Here
by gingergallifreyan125
Summary: The Doctor and Rose left India with a new perspective on their relationship. How will they proceed, now that things are different? This sequel to "Memories of India" explores their relationship through the end of series 2 and Journey's End. Includes references to "The Nightmare of Black Island" by Mike Tucker and "The Art of Destruction" by Stephen Cole.
1. Love's Lantern

Rose dumped herself onto the jump seat. "I'm knackered."

The Doctor flopped onto the seat with equal weariness, staring at the grating on the floor.

She knew when he wouldn't look at her or prattle on that something was going on in that big Time Lord brain of his.

He rested his elbow on the back of the seat and propped up his jaw in his hand. His eyes were tired.

She remembered this look. She remembered it from when they traveled to ancient Rome, when Ursus transformed her into the marble statue, when she was able to gift the vial to the Doctor from behind the not-Rose Fortuna. She remembered the look of helplessness on the Doctor's face.

She imagined how he must have felt this time around, with her face having been stolen by the Wire. She wanted to make him smile, so she gently touched his forearm and offered, "Just curious, did you travel back in time while I was gone? Maybe popped back to watch the first filming of _Come Dancing_?"

He chuckled at this, and there was the smile she was after. She grinned.

"Ha, no." He finally met her eyes with a little of that sparkle she loved so much. "I had good reason to leave you in Rome."

"Aw, I know, Doctor."

His smile and his eyes softened. "I couldn't—I couldn't leave you today."

She picked up on his more serious tone and drew her lips together in a soft line.

"Rose, they brought you into the station with a blanket over you. I could see your pink skirt," he gingerly placed a hand on her thigh, "and I didn't want to believe it was you. Then they pulled the blanket off—" He couldn't continue. His eyes searched her face.

"Then what, Doctor?"

"The Detective Inspector told me how they found you." He met her eyes again. "They, erm, they told me they found you in the street. You were just standing in the street. That thing stole your face," his voice caught, "and Magpie chucked you out in the street. Rose, you weren't breathing."

Rose knit her brows in compassion.

His voice caught more. "Your heart wasn't even beating. Your body was just standing there." He cleared his throat. "When I visited Magpie's this morning, I saw your face on the screen. You were shouting my name."

"Your name was the last thing I said before I lost consciousness."

"Rose, she tried stealing my face."

Tears filled her eyes. "Doctor—"

"Rose, it was painful, her trying to strip my consciousness from me. I have an extra high tolerance for pain, but for you it must have been so much worse." His voice caught again, and his jaw clenched. "Rose, you were in pain, and I wasn't there to stop it."

She tenderly stroked one of his lapels. "I didn't feel any pain once I lost my thoughts."

"You were calling out for me, and I wasn't there." A tear trailed down his cheek.

She reached out a hand to brush his tear away. "You had to leave the house to follow the police. You were calling for me, and I didn't follow you. You couldn't lose them. It's not your fault. You had to save them, the people. Doctor…" She moved to sit in his lap, needing to feel close to him.

His arms immediately encircled her waist, clutching her to himself. He buried his face in her neck. "I'm so sorry, Rose. I wasn't there," he cried.

She placed both of her hands on his chest, one clutching at his breast pocket. "Doctor, it's okay. You're here now. I'm here. I'm right here."

He breathed her in, and she shivered at the sensation. He pulled back to search her face again. "She stole your face." He cupped her cheek and stroked her skin with his thumb.

She closed her eyes to savor the feeling, her skin tingling from his light touch.

He began to tenderly trace her features. His thumb stroked along her brow and slid across her temple. His index finger gently traced the curve of her ear as he delicately pushed her hair behind it. He cupped the nape of her neck.

She could feel his nose and lips graze her other cheek, and he kissed both of her eyes with such tenderness that she cried.

His parted lips trailed one of her tears until he reached her jaw, and she could feel the bridge of his nose follow the line of it until he reached her chin.

She parted her lips to take in a slow breath. She felt his hand tighten around the nape of her neck, and his lips followed along her throat, and she tilted her head back slightly. She could feel the ghost of his breath under her chin until he reached just below her lips.

He pulled back to look at her once more.

Her eyes fluttered open. She found his gaze on her lips, and his thumb traced her bottom lip slowly, back and forth, and she kissed it.

He took that hand and reached just under her skirt to hold her knee. His other hand moved from her waist to cup her neck, and he pressed his forehead to her cheek. She felt him breathe slowly and deeply.

She clasped her hands behind his neck and grazed his lips with the tip of her nose. "Doctor…" Her lips hovered close to his, her eyes half-lidded.

"Rose," he breathed, and then tenderly enfolded her waist again. His lips brushed hers and he pulled back slightly. "Rose," he breathed again, just a whisper.

She savored his breath on her lips. She cupped his cheek, thumb stroking his sideburn. She felt him lean into her touch. She whispered, "Doctor," once more and took his bottom lip in hers, and he completed the seal.

He took control, and she opened to him willingly. He needed to explore her, to taste her, hungry to know she was really there with him.

He sensed Rose needed a moment to catch her breath, so he kissed her jawline to the spot just below her ear.

"Doctor." Her chest was gently heaving.

"Rose," he said and pulled back to meet her eyes. It was the first time they'd really connected via sight in a few moments, and his eyes filled with tears again as he took in hers. He lost himself in her eyes often, but after seeing her without them, it was like taking in the Grand Canyon for the first time, disorientating and feeling small in the majesty of its grandeur.

"Doctor, stay with me tonight," she offered, brushing a few strands of his hair from his forehead that had left their perch in his coif.

Rarely had they shared the same sleeping space up to this point in their traveling together, but Rose could tell he needed it, and she wouldn't mind the closeness herself.

He nodded, and obediently followed her when she hopped off his lap and laced her fingers through his. She led him to her room. She opened the door and he almost stumbled when the scent of _her_ overwhelmed him. He followed her to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"Doctor, you get yourself ready for sleep. I need to change out of this dress. I'll see you in a mo', okay?"

He nodded again. He shed his jacket and tie and Oxford and laid them over the arm of the nearby sitting chair. He also unlaced his trainers and toed off his socks. He laced his fingers together behind his head and laid back on one of her pillows, crossed his feet, and closed his eyes. He waited for her.

He heard the door to her en suite open, and after a moment of silence, he opened his eyes and saw Rose watching him from the side of the bed. He patted the space next to him. "Come on, then."

She giggled and flopped onto the bed and curled into his side.

In one deft move, which took her by surprise, he rolled on his side towards her. He threaded an arm underneath her and pulled her flush against him, his fingers splayed on the skin of the small of her back. His other hand drew up her thigh, and she threw her leg over his, so they were tangled together.

"Hello," he grinned down at her.

She giggled in return and rested her hand on his arm. "Hello."

"Gods, I missed you, Rose."

She rested her hand on his cheek. "I'm here now."

His face softened and he moved his hand to her chest to feel her heartbeat. "That you are." He wrapped his arm around her to join the other and nestled his nose in her neck.

He savored the feel of her fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck, and he hummed in contentment. His breathing slowed as he transitioned to sleep, and she followed soon after.


	2. The Morning After, Part 1

When he woke, the Doctor pleasantly found himself still tangled up in Rose.

This was far more… _domestic_ than he'd ever been. It was not that they'd never fallen asleep together, but that was always in the library or the media room. And it was not that he'd never been in her bedroom. Just not to sleep. And if she'd fallen asleep, he'd always left, careful not to disturb her. But this morning, he found that he liked sleeping next to her, here, in her bed. Sleep was much more peaceful.

He liked this. He needed to do this more often. If it was alright with her.

He watched her eyes twitch as she progressed through a REM cycle. He wanted to know what she was dreaming about. He could feel her slow, gentle breath as she exhaled.

It was still early in the morning, and she would sleep for a good while longer, so he let his thoughts wander.

The Doctor wasn't unfamiliar with love, even though it wasn't a prominent part of culture in the Citadel. Most of the Time Lords felt they were above that sort of thing, and humans in general, speaking with pride and disdain in lectures and symposiums, but the Doctor had always been a bit of a renegade. He actually enjoyed the study of humans. Perhaps it was their own rebellious spirit that fueled his own.

Yes, for most species, love and reproduction were an evolutionary necessity, but the more time he spent around humans in close quarters, he saw that humans found attraction to be…fun. Humans _genuinely enjoyed_ this interaction with one another. They _liked_ the physicality and emotional involvement of close intimacy with another person, even if it didn't always work out successfully for them and they didn't stay together.

And why shouldn't they find it fun? They only have one life. Might as well find something to make it worthwhile, be it love or otherwise.

And then he found that he actually enjoyed feelings of attraction _himself_. This varied with his different regenerations, each having their own distinct personalities and preferences, but on the whole, he saw himself progress over time. Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith, Romana—he had experienced a strange feeling of attachment to all of them in his Third and Fourth lives; he even tried his hand at _flirting_ in his Fifth with Peri. He suspected he might have enjoyed it more had he not regenerated so soon. He had spent far too long around humans, he had concluded at the time.

Then came number Eight. Boy, was he a looker. Far too attractive and far too romantic for his own good. And he did fall in love, even if he was reluctant to admit it. Charley.

And then came the Time War. It changed him.

But Rose. Rose was different creature entirely. Here he was, bearing the burden of survivor's guilt. He wasn't planning on walking away from Henrik's, if he was completely honest with himself, and he had told her as much. But there she'd been, larking about in the basement in the middle of an Auton invasion. (Bless that lottery money.) He remembered how she had piqued his interest in the elevator, and he found he couldn't bring himself to stay during the explosion.

And then she wouldn't stop asking _questions._ He kept answering her with all the sarcasm he could muster, but really he was trying to get her to think he was a jerk so she would leave him alone with her smile and amber eyes. Then she made him laugh, and her laughter was like music. And then he tried to scare her off by giving her this melodramatic speech about how he could feel the rotation of the Earth, but he made the mistake of holding her hand. It fit really well in his. He thought he'd finally shaken her off when he told her to forget him and go home.

But she was relentless. She was trouble, this one.

By the time she stepped into his TARDIS, he desperately wanted her to travel with him.

He'd never been involved with a companion's family before. Nine hundred years of space and time and he'd never been slapped by anyone's mother…because he'd never really met anyone's mother. Then, his own family lost on Gallifrey, he'd sort of adopted her family as his own, Rose and Jackie and Mickey.

Rose's breathing changed, and he left his thoughts behind. He watched as she struggled to open her eyes through sleep. He loved the sight of that. Oh, he'd seen her struggle to wake before, but it was different after spending the night with her in his arms.

"D—Doctor," she managed to croak out.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "That's me."

She yawned and stretched, and he hummed in amusement at the little sounds she made.

"Tea?" he offered.

She blinked a few times and placed a hand on his chest. "Ta."

"Right. Just a tic."

He bounded off the bed and practically skipped all the way to the galley.

Settling in a chair at the table, waiting for the kettle to heat, he hummed an old Venusian melody. He was startled by a pair of arms around his neck and a chin resting in his hair, but he knew who it was. He grabbed her upper arm and craned his neck so he could see her.

"I've heard that. 's like…was…" she struggled to put it in words and she yawned again. She stepped around him to sit on the table. She had slipped on a robe over her pajamas.

He moved his chair so he was flush against the table next to her and propped his head up with his hand, the other resting in the crook of his arm. He looked up at her with stars in his eyes. "Where have you heard that, Rose Tyler?"

"It was in my dream last night."

"You and dreams lately," he smiled and patted her thigh.

"I was here, in the TARDIS, and I was in a sort of corridor with lots of doors. I could open some of them. I think I saw you," she met his eyes. "The old you. Lots of old yous. You were old, and there was Susan and Ian and Barbara. And then you played a recorder." She laughed and nudged him with her knee. "And there was Zoe and Jamie...McCrimmon, I think. You took that name in Scotland."

"Yeah, Jamie was a good bloke. Indispensable."

"And then there was that dandy one, with the frills and the velvet suits. You were singing that song, and you drove a yellow car."

"Bessie. Oh, I miss her. We ought to take her for a spin. She'd like you."

"And you were with Jo, and you worked in a lab. And there was a man with crazy eyes and dark hair. He kept coming after you. Who was that?"

He looked at the table, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Old friend of mine. Old foe, too. We studied together at the Academy. He was always a bit mad. Once I left Gallifrey, he followed me and wreaked all kinds of havoc around the universe."

"Why are you sad?"

"I don't know what happened to him in the War." He sighed. "But no matter," he waved his hand nonchalantly. "Better that we haven't run into him. I need a few centuries' respite before I can deal with him again, though I'm pretty sure he was lost with all the others."

The kettle whistled on the stove. The Doctor hopped out of his chair and proceeded to prepare her tea at the counter.

Now that she had a connection to the TARDIS, Rose must have been able to access events in her Matrix. He wasn't counting on that when he discovered their connection, but he didn't mind the idea of sharing his past lives with her. If anyone deserved to see who he was, it was Rose.

He hadn't forgotten how upset she was when she found out he'd kept his past companions from her, though it hadn't been intentional. It hadn't ever been an issue with any other companion. They'd all understood, because either he mentioned previous companions, or they'd been along when he'd picked up another one.

When he started traveling with Rose, he'd wanted to run from his past. The War hadn't been kind to him, and looking into the past was too painful. He didn't want to think of those he'd lost.

And most of his companions from the early days had aged or had already died. Acknowledging them now meant that he'd have to acknowledge losing them permanently soon.

But he was, in so many ways, closer to her than any other companion. He hadn't really been in any overtly romantic relationship with any other companion. Honesty and trust were necessary in these types of relationships.

He had done wrong by her by not being open, even if he had his reasons. Maybe this was a chance to make it right.

He was also cautious.

"Rose?" He stirred milk and sugar into her tea.

"Hmm?" she replied.

"You said you saw doors, and you could open some of them. Could you open all the doors?"

"No. Some were locked."

He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." He turned and brought both mugs to the table.

"Good?" She took the offered mug and let it warm her hands.

He returned to his chair. "There's some memories even I'd rather not touch yet."

"Oh." She blew over her tea.

"It's not that I don't want to be open with you."

"No, I understand. I feel a bit funny about all of this anyway. These are your memories."

"Nah, they're memories of the TARDIS, too. And I think it's time for you to see that part of me. I haven't always been open with you, and I know that upset you."

She smiled over her mug and sipped. He was making an effort to change.

"Anyway, continue, please. What else did you see?"

"Sarah Jane." She smiled, and he returned it. "And your floppy hair and big goofy grin. And that scarf, and jelly babies."

"Ha! Haven't had any of those for a long time. Need to find my stash."

"And then you traveled with Romana. She was a Time _Lady_ , yeah?"

"Yep!" he popped the 'p'. He was sad again, knowing what the War did to her, but he made an effort not to shut down for Rose's sake.

"And then you were blond. That was some _great_ hair, by the way," she added, sensing he needed to be pulled out of wherever he was.

"I wasn't sure about it at first. Regeneration's a lottery. We may have limited control on regeneration, but ultimately you never know what you're going to get."

"Blond you had a sweet face."

"Don't tell him that. He hated being called sweet. He could get down to business when the moment called for it. Whiz at cricket, too. Loved the cricket."

"And the celery," she giggled.

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing more than a decorative vegetable. Claimed it was functional. It was supposed to turn purple in the presence of certain gasses. Honestly, I think I just make half this stuff up."

"And then there was the coat."

"The _coat_. Don't remind me of the coat."

"I thought it was charming, in a garish sort of way. You and all your big words."

"I'd have contests with myself to see how many I could use in a sentence."

"And then you were a bit eccentric."

"Manipulative, too. He was an excellent psychologist. Not some of my proudest moments, but it got the job done in a pinch."

"And then, the one after that. The one with the cravat. His TARDIS was gorgeous. I bet the ladies loved him. He's _so_ dreamy with that sultry voice and those mysterious blue eyes and curly locks. I'd like to run my fingers through those and—"

"I quite like my TARDIS now." His face was flat.

She grinned. "Are you jealous? Bit of TARDIS envy?" She giggled.

He blushed and looked away, "No."

"I think you're _jealous_ ," she said in a singsong voice, and she nudged him with her knee. "I thought you were all the same man, right? And it's all the same TARDIS. Just a different look to suit your personalities, like your change your outfit."

"Yes, ultimately, we're all the same man, but each regeneration of a Time Lord has his own personality. While you're in it, you feel like your own man. Occasionally we've needed the help of another incarnation, or two, or four. You ought to see us then, all in the same room. We tend to get... well..." he rubbed the hair at the back of his neck, "...a smidge competitive. Too much arrogance for our own good."

"You mean it becomes a dick measuring contest?" She flashed him a cheeky grin, the one with the tongue.

His jaw dropped, and then he recovered. "I was trying to be more delicate about it, but, sure, if you will."

"Well, Doctor, if regeneration is a lottery, I seem to have won it."

He looked up at her and she was grinning at him over her tea. He blushed again and sipped from his own.

"Twice. I loved you with big ears and leather and I love your tall, skinny, suited self, too. And I love the coral, grungy feel. I seem to be the luckiest companion of them all. Wouldn't trade you both for anybody."

"Aw, Rose…"

"I mean it, yeah?"

He set down his tea and propped up his neck again. He played with the hem of her robe. "You know, the TARDIS has some archival footage stored in her Matrix. I bet if we ask nicely she would show some to us."

"Like…serials or something?"

"Yep. Even gave them her own theme song."

"Shut up. You're serious?" she laughed.

He rose from his chair and removed her tea from her hands and set it on the table. He took both her hands in his and walked backwards to the door. "Come on, then."

She hopped off the table and followed him. She grinned mischievously, to which he raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly how to distract him—the silly idiot never suspected. She took the opportunity to slowly spin them around and trade places with him, and then she bolted out the door.

The Doctor poked his head into the corridor, confused. "Erm, Rose?"

She was a few strides down the corridor already. She turned and taunted, "Last one there's a Slitheen!"

He laughed and then his face was suddenly serious, awashed in the Oncoming Storm. "Run," was all he said.

Rose barked out a laugh and turned to run.

The Doctor could easily catch up and take her over, but where would the fun in that be? He kept up a light jog, but once they neared the media room, he sprinted and caught Rose around her waist from behind. "Gotcha!" he crowed victoriously and spun her around so he was closer to the doorway and she was in the middle of the corridor. He danced a little jig as he took two steps backwards into the room. "No Slitheen for me, no Slitheen for me," he chanted, and then froze as he looked at the room—no, broom closet. " _What!_ " he exclaimed. "The media room is supposed to be here! Why am I in the—"

Rose glanced through the open door behind her. "Oh, _Doc_ tor," she sang, "I think you were right about the TARDIS liking me more." She leaned against the door frame and flipped the light switch. The sofa came into view.

His jaw dropped, and then he pointed at the ceiling. " _Oh,_ that's dirty. That's—that's not fair at all!"

"You're a Slith _eeeeeen_ ," she pointed her finger and taunted.

He crinkled his nose in disgust and muttered, "I would have gotten here first if it wasn't for that meddling TARDIS."

She walked to the sofa. "Come on, Scooby-Doo Who. I'll make it worth your while and feed you Scooby snacks."

He poked his head through the doorway and eagerly looked at Rose, who was already seated. "Rananas?" he mimicked the cartoon dog with his voice.

She patted her leg, "Come, boy."

He flopped onto the couch, grabbing a throw pillow to hug, and laid his head on Rose's thigh.

She scratched behind his ear. "Good boy," she cooed.

He kicked his leg.

She grabbed a banana slice from the plate the TARDIS had provided and stuck it near his mouth, and he reached for it with his tongue and hummed in enjoyment as he ate it. He smiled up at her and then they laughed.

Once they settled, he said, "The TARDIS put all my early adventures in black and white for authenticity. Are you ready for this, Rose Tyler?"

"Ready," she smiled down at him and played with his hair.

"This was how I met Ian and Barbara, and this was when the Chameleon circuit broke, and…" he rambled on as the opening sequence played and Rose had to shush him.

She laughed when she saw the TARDIS had named the serials _Doctor Who_.

They sat on the sofa the rest of the day with him giving her the best highlights of his life. Neither seemed to notice til they went back to Rose's room to sleep that he had never put his Oxford and jacket back on and was barefoot the whole day.

She was gloriously _ruining_ him.


	3. The Impossible Pit

"Hang on, though, Doctor, you never really said. You two, who are you?" Ida Scott prompted. She was simply grateful to be alive, and exhausted, but her scientific curiosity always got the better of her.

"Oh," the Doctor started, a million things zipping through his mind at once. How to describe the Doctor and Rose Tyler, in the TARDIS, just as it should be? He smiled down at Rose. It was a phrase he had used before, one she would immediately recognize. "The stuff of legend." He pulled the lever to send them into the Vortex. They both watched the rising and the falling of the central column, grateful to be back in their own ship.

Rose glanced over at the Doctor, still enjoying the view. God, she missed that profile of his. She was so grateful for that profile. That profile that she had nearly lost on that—literally—damned planet.

She cleared her throat. "Right, then. First things first." She fidgeted with the hem of her jacket and smoothed her hands on her jeans.

"What's that?" he asked, looking down at her.

She forcefully grabbed his arms and pushed him down into the jump seat.

"Wha—" was all he could get out, because the next thing he knew, Rose Tyler was straddling his lap, taking passionate advantage of his open mouth, grabbing fistfuls of his hair, angling his head so she could stand herself up on her knees a little and press her body to his. His mind took a few seconds to catch up with his mouth, but before he knew it, his hands found her waist, gripping her to himself.

She broke the kiss just as forcefully, needing a moment's respite for breath, her arms still locked around his neck. They held each other's gaze, chests heaving for air.

The Doctor finally broke the silence. "Rose—"

"Danny said the planet fell into the black hole, and I didn't want to believe you were still down there. I couldn't." She sat on him, giving her legs a chance to rest.

"Didn't give up on me this time, then?" He gave her a cheeky grin, bringing up the memory of when he accused her of the same shortly after his regeneration.

Her jaw dropped. "Rude!" She swatted him on the arm and started to pull away, even though she knew he was joking.

He fisted his hands in the back of her jacket and laughed. "Come here! I'm sorry!" he managed to get out.

"You're _what?_ " she prompted, eyebrow raised.

"I'm—rather dashing, don't you think?" He flashed her another cheeky grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Git. Well, somebody's dashing, that's for sure, and it's not _you_ ," she poked him in the chest and pulled away again.

She stood up this time and made like she was walking away, aware of (and enjoying) the game they were playing.

He caught her hand and stood to lean on the console. He pulled her to stand between his legs and wrapped an arm around her waist. He held her hand down by their sides. He enjoyed the way the central column's green glow illuminated her features. His angel, he mused—no, his goddess.

"May I try again?" he simply offered.

"You may." She smiled up at him.

"I'm rude. And, I'm sorry." He cupped her neck and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I never doubted you, Rose. Not even for a second." He kissed her, this time more gently than the first.

They were interrupted by a growl from her stomach. "Oh, come on." She tugged his hand as she walked backwards to the corridor. "I'm starving, so let's go scrounge something up and then you're staying with me tonight."

"No arguments from me." He followed, and they walked to the galley.

To their delight, the TARDIS had already prepared and laid out a fine meal of, without any explanation needed, (because Rose was her favorite), fish and chips, wrapped in paper even. "Oh, she knows me so well!" She pulled out her chair and sat.

He did the same. "I told you, she likes you better than me. Been traveling with her for centuries, and she's never done that for me. She didn't let me find her in that pit for _me_. She let me find her so I could rescue you."

Rose took a few bites of chips. She closed her eyes and hummed in satisfaction.

Neither of them were really ready to broach the subject of what had happened on Krop Tor more than they already had, so they talked about lighter matters, like where to travel next, or recounted funny moments from the past.

When they cleaned up from supper, they headed to Rose's room. It had become one of their favorite activities since the Coronation, an unspoken arrangement, him staying with her. It didn't happen every night, and no, as a Time Lord, he didn't need the sleep. But he loved being near her all the same. He made sure to keep a stack of books and a small reading light in her room to entertain him on the nights when he was awake long after she fell asleep.

He followed his usual routine of undressing down to his trousers and t-shirt and lying back on her pillows.

Rose went to change, but poked her head out of her en suite just a moment after she went in. "Doctor, I feel mucky. I'm taking a shower."

"I'll wait here."

He heard the water kick on and laid back on the pillows like always. He closed his eyes and his thoughts drifted back to Krop Tor.

He dwelled on one moment in particular.

Surprisingly, it wasn't when he almost told Ida to tell Rose…well, she knows. He had wanted to say it, but it wouldn't have been right to tell Rose then. And what good would that word have done, anyway? What he felt for Rose couldn't be contained in a single word.

Also surprising, it wasn't when the Beast said that Rose would die in battle soon. He wouldn't even touch those words. It wasn't possible. Of course it lied. The Doctor would never let anything happen to Rose. It was simple, really.

He certainly didn't want to think of the sound of that rocket launching away from the planet.

Rather, the Doctor thought about their conversation before the interrupting phone call from the Beast, about having to settle down in a house with doors and carpets and he'd have to get a job and a bloody mortgage. He'd been reluctant with her in that moment.

It wasn't that he was reluctant about Rose. He'd blushed when she implied that she was willing to share a house with him. Rather, he was reluctant about having to settle down at all.

Oh, he'd been forced to settle once, back when the Time Lords exiled him to Earth and he was stuck working for UNIT. He'd made the most of it, but had hated it. His companions had made it bearable and the Master had kept him a strange company.

Come to think of it, had that been why Koschei traveled to Earth in the first place? To keep his old friend company, in his own twisted way? Mortal enemies they were, Koschei and Theta, yes, but they were also friends. He missed his old friend.

Koschei would love Rose. Everybody loved Rose. He smiled.

But then, he thought, how many times would Koschei abduct her just to push his buttons? Rose would be able to hold her own with him because she was brilliant in her own right. In fact, knowing the both of them, they'd probably start plotting pranks together, swapping stories, and—oh, gods, she definitely doesn't need to hear about that one time in Borusa's lecture—

Best not think about that. Where was he, in his thoughts? Oh, yes. The damned planet.

When Rose brought up the possibility of sharing a dwelling, of course it made sense. They shared a dwelling now. It was the ease with which he thought about settling down with her that surprised him.

He remembered how she reacted, how she had presented the idea, and how he'd brushed it off. And she'd dropped the matter. He realized that maybe she had thought it didn't matter to him. He needed to fix that. But how?

He was changing, wasn't he? Centuries of running around time and space, and nobody had ever made him feel this way.

And then she'd said one more thing.

 _"Stuck with you, that's not so bad," Rose had offered._

 _"Yeah?" he asked softly._

 _"Yes," she answered resolutely._

It wouldn't be so bad, being stuck with her, either. House, flat, mansion, apartment, log cabin the woods, some obscure cave by the sea, the place didn't matter to him. When he was with Rose, he was home.

He was definitely _not_ thinking that he wanted to settle down, he told himself. He wasn't suited for that kind of life. But if he and Rose were stuck in another situation like this, stranded without the TARDIS, for whatever reason, he would put up with it _for her_.

He heard the door of the en suite open, and the smell of Rose's jasmine shampoo wafted towards him.

"Long day, wasn't it?" She lay on the bed near the Doctor.

"Yep," he said softly, and stared at the ceiling. He felt her roll onto her side. He turned his head so he could see her. She wanted to discuss something, he could tell. Maybe it was about the settling down thing.

"Doctor, while I was in the shower, I was just thinking—there was one moment—I wonder—I think I might have been able to stop it all."

The Doctor's brows furrowed in curiosity. "What's that?" Why would Rose think any of it was her fault?

"Jefferson…he…he wanted to…after Toby went off—Doctor, you should have seen him. He had all those letters on his skin, the ones the TARDIS couldn't translate. His eyes were blood red. And when he started saying all that nonsense, the letters sort of…vaporized or dissolved or something off his skin and floated to the Ood. Jefferson had to shoot all the Ood to stop them from attacking us. Toby seemed scared. At least I thought he was. But when we got on the rocket, he became Satan again. I should have let Jefferson…" Her voice caught.

"Come here," he said softly. She shifted closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her as she curled into his side. He rested his chin on her hair. He waited for her to continue. He knew exactly how Rose felt, and it was not a burden he wanted to see her carry.

She took a deep breath. "Jefferson wanted to shoot Toby, Doctor. And I stopped him. I thought he was fine. I even gave him a hug."

The Doctor felt her shiver. He gently rubbed circles on her back.

She continued with a measure of emotion in her voice. "I let that thing touch me—"

"Rose," he stopped her. He shifted onto his side so he could meet her eyes, letting one of his legs rest over hers. He cupped her cheek and held her tight against him. His voice and expression were suddenly intense, brows raised and eyes wide. "Rose, you listen to me. Never, Rose, never question your compassion. _Never._ Do you hear me?"

She blinked.

"Your compassion is why I—" He stopped himself and searched her eyes. There was that word again. Someday, he would be able to say it.

Rose nodded after a moment. She understood.

He took a deep breath, searching for the words to describe how he felt. "Your compassion is what makes you human. You, Rose, should always err on the side of compassion.

"You start thinking like that, like any of this was your fault, questioning yourself, questioning when to be compassionate and when to act in destruction, and you'll end up like me. It's a dark and heavy burden. Full of regrets. Lose your compassion, and you'll lose part of who you are, Rose. You'll become hard. You'll become a soldier."

"Would you love me any less?"

"No," he said resolutely, "and don't you ever think that, either." He took another deep breath. "That's who I was, for a long time. Once the war hit, everything I stood for had to be thrown out into the Void. I forgot who I was. And I never want that for you."

He needed to shift the conversation. How to pull her out of this? "And then, a department store in London is invaded by Autons, and you're rummaging around in the basement, searching for a signal, and you hear this shop girl mucking about, and you think, 'Oh, perfect, some human's gotta go and muck all this up, now I have to save someone, too, and you humans can never make things simple, can you?' and then you discover in an elevator that she's quite pretty, so you try to avoid eye contact with her, and then she won't leave you alone with all these question and, gods, will she stop asking so many questions?"

At this, she laughed, and he felt better. If he could make her laugh, everything was alright with the universe.

"And then, you see her on the other side of a cat flap—do you need me to go on, Rose? Because I could tell stories about you for days. Do you remember hitting that fire alarm in the pizza place when I pulled off Mickey's head? That was brilliant!"

She laughed again. "You…you were carrying around…Mickey's head. Mickey's plastic head!" She rolled onto her back and drew her knees up to her chest, her head thrown back into her pillow. Her laughter drew him in, and he started laughing as well. "And Mickey," she tried to continue, "there was Mickey, stomping around…with plastic…plastic blade for hands!" She flapped her legs and arms around and made an angry face, and they both lost it for a while.

When all was settled, she stayed on her back, and he scooted closer to her side and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Rose, even then, you weren't worried about yourself. Your first concern was getting everybody else out of there."

"And then I saw the TARDIS for the first time," she laughed, "and you thought I was crying because I had culture shock."

"I was so nervous! It's not every day you find a beautiful, brilliant woman running into your TARDIS." He placed his palm on her stomach.

"You thought you were so impressive."

"Oi! I was so impressive! I still am!" He pointed at her. "Don't act like you weren't impressed by opening the door to the street and we were in a totally different place."

"I was, but you were being _stupid_ about Mickey. And _you_ didn't even see the Eye!"

"So you were impressed! Ha!" he crowed. "I knew it! And I looked at you while we were running, and you were having the time of your life. And you pointed out the underground location of the Nestene Consciousness. And I told you to leg it, but you stayed. Honestly, Rose, you never listen."

"Yeah, and you'd've been dead if it weren't for me."

"Yeah, I would have been. If not for you." He reached across her and laced his fingers through hers. "I'm so glad I met you."

She smiled up at him. "Me, too."

He hummed.

"Doctor," Rose said, hesitantly.

"Yes?" He squeezed her hand.

"Danny—he called us—he called us a couple."

"Yeah, he did, didn't he?"

"Are we? A couple, I mean. We've never actually declared it, or anything." She bit her lip. "I know how you feel about domest—"

"Rose Tyler, I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Her eyes went wide.

He started rambling. "I suppose I haven't been clear about that. I thought I didn't need to say it. You have to remember, Time Lords didn't do the 'relationships' thing very well. Talk about repressed! Never danced, never showed affection—"

"Doctor," she gently touched his arm, "Can you just answer the question?"

"Right. Yes. We are. I mean, if that's alright with you."

"Yes." She smiled back at him.

"Good." He kissed her on the cheek. "And, by the way, I'm not thinking I want to settle down or anything. I think you know how terrible I'd be with that kind of life. I'd become insufferable, and I don't want to burden you with that. But I want you to know that if, and it's a big if, because I don't plan for us to go through this again any time soon, if we were to be stranded on another planet, if I had to be stuck without the TARDIS, there's no one I'd rather be stuck with than you."

"Really?" She gave him a wide grin.

"Stuck with you, it wouldn't be so bad."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. _Aaa_ nyway," he said, placing his palm on her stomach again, "back to earlier, the point of what I'm trying to say is that your compassion reminded me of who I am. I had forgotten that part of myself. You made me better. You're still making me better. Your compassion is so important to me.

"Even still, regardless of me, compassion keeps the universe kind. I've been around for so long, and it's a dark place. It's compassion like yours that keeps this universe spinning. Gives it light. Don't you ever lose that, Rose Tyler."

"D'you know what else, Doctor?" She reached up and brushed his cheek with her fingers.

"What?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Satan looked at my bum."

"When?" he squeaked.

"When we were crawling through the vent shafts. He said it was nice, too."

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him."

"Too bad. That job's already been done. I fired the bolt gun at the glass in the front shield." She mimed pointing the bolt gun at the ceiling. "Unbuckled his seatbelt, and he flew right out into that black hole!" She made a grandiose pointing motion with her hand out to somewhere.

"Did you really?" he grinned.

"Yep! That was after he started screaming again on the rocket."

The Doctor figured that must have been when he smashed the vases in the pit. He was right to put his faith in her. He smiled, and then realized that she stopped talking. "What's wrong?"

"When we were crawling through the vents, Toby kept urging us to shift. He didn't care that Jefferson was left behind. I should've seen it."

"Rose, it's not your fault. Stop telling yourself that. If it's any consolation, Toby was probably dead from the moment the consciousness of the Beast entered him. And the Beast, whatever it was, was an extremely good psychologist. Knew how to make you believe he was Toby. And you did everything you knew how to do. You didn't need me to figure anything out." He lifted her chin. "I am so proud of you. I'm so, so proud of you, Rose." He brushed her hair behind her ear. "You were brilliant. You are."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I know how you feel, Rose. I wish I could make it go away."

She sniffed. "Well, if we'd have killed Toby, would the Beast have entered someone else?"

He smiled. "That's my Rose." He swiped at a tear with his thumb. "Probably. The body of the Beast hadn't been destroyed yet by me. He was able to transfer his mind to the Ood while the old body was still alive."

"So it really isn't my fault."

"Your actions helped protect the other crew. It all worked out, Rose. It always does." He wrapped his arm around her, just as she stretched her arms out in a yawn. "And you are exhausted. You need some rest."

She reached up and cupped his jaw. "Stay with me, please?"

"Of course."

"Good night." She held the nape of his neck and pulled him down for a short kiss.

"Time is relative." He winked.

She rolled her eyes, and then rolled over on her side facing away from him and curled into a ball. The Doctor immediately wrapped an arm around her from behind and pulled her flush with his chest. Her head rested on the pillow beneath his chin. He craned his neck to kiss her shoulder. She laced her fingers through his and gave a squeeze. She was out within minutes.

He was thankful for that. He didn't want her to see his own tears. After all, not only had she almost lost him, the Doctor had nearly lost his Rose. The sound of the rocket launch haunted him to sleep.


	4. Love and Monsters and Pudding

"Hold on, Rose!" The TARDIS rocked and rolled through the Vortex. "She's picking up a signal from a stray Hoixian ship!" The Doctor gripped the side of the console and tried to read the monitor.

Rose gripped the console next to him and shouted above the din. "Where's it going?"

"Looks like London. Landing!"

The TARDIS shuddered and the Doctor and Rose fell back onto the jump seat.

"Hoixian, what's that?" Rose asked, chest heaving.

He stood and donned his specs and studied the monitor. "A Hoix. Creature from the planet Hoixia. Nasty looking bugger, lots of teeth, big head, deceptively omnivorous." He removed the specs and looked over at Rose, smiling at the formulating plan in his mind. He was in his element. "We need to catch it and return it to its ship. If I play it right, I can set its coordinates to return home, or the TARDIS can tow it in the Vortex to its own planet as a backup." He bounded off to the galley.

"And how exactly are we going to catch it?" Rose hurried to catch up with him.

"Trap," he said.

"What kind of trap?" She watched the Doctor rummage through the fridge.

He turned and held up a gigantic steak. "Meat trap. Lure him to his own ship. Then we need to douse him with a solution that will knock him out. Quick and simple, right?"

Rose smiled. "Brilliant."

"We need to find the ship first." The Doctor searched for energy readings with the sonic as they wandered the corridors of the abandoned warehouse.

Rose kept her eyes peeled for a sign of the creature.

"Ah ha!" he crowed as they rounded a corner and stepped into a large, open space.

They stood on a walkway that formed the second level. On the lower level they could see rows of rusted machinery.

He continued. "Ship is that-a-way! No sign of the Hoix within. Now to make that solution. Rose, find a spigot. Got to be one nearby in this abandoned factory. I've got to set this trap and examine the ship's computer before he returns." The Doctor proceeded lay out the meat, which he had carried in a cooler, to lure it home, and then turned his attention to the computer.

Rose, indeed, found a spigot, along with a few buckets in a broom closet on the wall opposite the ship. "Doctor! Over here!"

The Doctor was just about to set the coordinates for the Hoixian ship when he heard Rose, so he left his task to meet her and mix the solution. He found that the ship's computer was damaged, which forced an emergency Earth landing. The Hoix wasn't here with any malicious intent, much to the Doctor's relief. He simply needed to get the Hoix back to his ship and send him home.

Meeting Rose in the small broom closet, he filled a blue bucket with water and then removed a powder from his coat pocket. Rose kept watch at the door.

All of a sudden, they heard a roar from somewhere in the factory. The Hoix was aware of their presence.

"Doctor," Rose sounded a bit concerned.

"It'll be fine. Just keep a lookout." He scanned the steaming solution with the sonic. Bugger. He'd been caught off guard by that roar and had mixed in too much of the powder. Too much concentration would only irritate the Hoix, not knock it out. He needed to remix it. He reached for a second bucket, red this time, nearby and began filling it with water.

The Hoix snarled again. He was closer.

The Doctor paid more careful attention to the solution this time. The sonic noted it was a perfect mix.

"Right, then, off to hunt a Hoix. Rose, you stay here with the solution. Once he's in his ship, grab the pail with the solution and meet me there. Throw it on him, and he'll be out in no time. Then we can send him home."

"Be careful, Doctor."

"I'll be fine." He engulfed her in a big hug. "This is the fun part!" The Doctor headed back to the ship for another attempt at pre-setting the coordinates for his home world.

Rose looked at the buckets behind her. There were two. Rose hadn't paid attention to which was the correct one. "Doctor, which bucket?" she called.

The Doctor thought for a moment as he picked up two pieces of stray metal pipes on the way and sped toward the ship. The first bucket had been blue, and that was the faulty solution. "Not blue!" he called over his shoulder, but he was just far enough away from Rose for his answer to be distorted.

"Blue, right," she told herself. From where she stood, she had a view of the factory space below. She spotted something moving…something with a large, ugly head…the Hoix, and he was headed toward the stairs opposite her towards the ship, straight for the Doctor.

"Doctor! Doctor, the trap! He's headed for the trap!" she called, hoping he could hear her from across the large space. She made for the blue bucket of the solution and started moving towards the Doctor.

"Where's he now? Can you see him?" he poked his head out of the doorway of the ship. The ship's console where he was inputting the coordinates was near the door.

"There he is! Watch out!"

"Where?!" he called, focusing on the console.

The Hoix reached the Doctor before Rose could. He entered the ship and slammed the door, to Rose's horror. And then to her shock and confusion, she saw a man walk up to the door, unaware of her approaching. She froze for a moment and watched him.

The Doctor stepped back from the console as the Hoix snarled at him. He slowly picked up the two pieces of pipe and clanged them together, knowing that the sound would soothe the beast. He coaxed him softly, "There, there, Hoixy-boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Your ship was damaged. I've repaired it so you can go home."

The Hoix snarled again, much quieter this time. The Doctor's efforts were working.

Suddenly, the door opened and the Hoix turned to roar at whatever it was that distracted him. It was the nasty snarl they used before catching their prey.

The Doctor peeked out of the doorway and noticed a blond man standing before the Hoix. Better distract the beast before he becomes lunch. Hopefully Rose would be on her way with the solution.

He picked up a piece of meat and tried to tempt the beast. "Come on! Eat the food!" he spoke like he would to a pet. "Come on! Look at the lovely food. Isn't it nice?" He looked at the bloke. "Get out of here, quickly." He continued his attempts to distract the creature, and was annoyed simultaneously by the seeming paralysis of the bystander and the non-appearance of Rose, so he said forcefully, "I said, run!"

All Rose saw from a distance was the bloke, the Hoix, and the Doctor holding up a piece of meat. The Doctor yelled at the man to shift, so she continued running with the bucket in hand, screaming like a warrior princess and splashing the Hoix with the solution.

The Doctor looked at the dripping Hoix trying to clear his eyes, and then at Rose's bucket. "Wrong one! You made it worse!"

He was being _rude_ again. A "thanks" would have been sufficient. Hold on—wrong bucket? "You said blue!" she yelled.

"I said 'not blue'!" he shot back.

Rose was angry now. _Not. Blue. Not blue?! Why hadn't he said red? Stupid, bloody, alien—_

Rose didn't have time to hurl curses at him, because the Hoix took off after her.

"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted. He grabbed the two pipes from the ship and banged them together again, managing to distract the angered Hoix, who turned to chase the Doctor. "Red, Rose! Get the red bucket!" He turned tail and began running through a series of circular corridors, hoping to keep the Hoix busy long enough for Rose to run and grab the correct solution.

"Now he tells me red," she muttered as she ran as fast as she could.

She retrieved the red bucket and ran back towards the ship.

The Doctor noticed Rose was on her way back, and he also noticed that the man was still standing there. _Why hasn't he bloody shifted yet?!_

Once Rose was close enough with the bucket, his mind made sense of the man. He'd seen him before. He grabbed a pole to slow his momentum. "Wait a minute, don't I know you?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow as the sandy-haired bloke turned tail and ran. The Doctor heard a splash.

"Got him, Doctor!" reverberated down a corridor.

He moved to find Rose and the Hoix slumped against a wall. "Brilliant! Now, we need to get him back to his ship."

"Doctor, who was that man?"

"The bloke? Dunno. I remember him from some _when_ , but I can't quite place it just now." He sniffed, and then bounded over to Rose like a puppy on springs and swallowed her in a hug. "Anyway, job well done, Rose!"

"Not blue," she said incredulously.

"What?" he pulled away, taken aback by her sudden change in tone.

"You told me 'not blue.'" Her eyes shot daggers at him.

Oh, he was in trouble. "Well…" He brushed the hair at the nape of his neck, "I did, didn't I? But, look, it all worked out, didn't it?" He held out his hands, pleading for forgiveness.

"Red, Doctor. The bucket was _red._ I know you're an alien, but surely you've heard of _that_ color." She poked him hard in the chest.

"Red. Red. _Reeeeed._ " He gazed at the ceiling and rolled the word around in his mouth as if he were contemplating, trying to diffuse Rose's fury with humor. He feared her scorn more than the Hoix or all the Daleks the universe could throw at him or even Jackie Tyler herself.

How to make this up to her? He would have to think of something later, but right now…ah, he knew. "Erm, yes, I have heard of the color _red_." He cleared his throat. " _O my luve's like a red, red rose that's newly sprung in June; O my luve's like the melodie that's sweetly play'd in tune._ " He saccharinely, dramatically wrapped his arms around her waist. " _As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, so deep in—_ "

"Alright, Time Lord, point taken." She pushed against his chest, trying to dislodge herself from his arms. Her lips were tight in war with a smile, and he knew he had her, so he held on tighter. She grabbed his arms in resignation.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise." His eyes were full of sincere intent.

She sighed. "Fine. Better make it good. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine, Rose. I was fine. Had it all under control. His ship was damaged and he was forced to land here. He had no malintent. It was that bloke who compromised things." Then he beamed down at her and released her from his arms. "Now, you grab this beast's feet, I'll get under his arms." They got into position. "And…lift!"

"Could've used a hand from that guy." Rose strained to hold the weight.

"Something spooked him off," he grunted.

"Like he saw a ghost," she huffed as she set the Hoix's feet on the ground inside the ship's control room.

Once the Hoix was settled inside his own ship, the Doctor set it to autopilot back to Hoixia, and they made their way back to the TARDIS. The Doctor made a quick hop forward in time to confirm that the ship entered its own atmosphere and set them to cruise in the Vortex.

Rose sat on the jump seat. "Before we head out again, I want to freshen up a bit, and then I want check in with Mum. We couldn't see her before we left London, so—"

"Krop Tor really spooked you, didn't it?" He turned to lean on the console behind him so he could see her.

"Yeah. Just the thought of being separated from her forever…it hurts, Doctor."

"I know, Rose." He sat on the jump seat next to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Believe me, I know."

"She's all I've known for the first nineteen years of my life. And I've got you, now, and I wouldn't trade that for anything, but who does she have? Mickey's not here anymore."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Anyway, I'm going to go call her." She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Yep." That small action of hers never failed to make his hearts flutter.

He watched her hop off the jump seat and set about to tinker underneath the console. He used the sonic to blast some Billy Joel while he worked.

As he fiddled with the thermoregulator coil, he remembered a promise he made to Rose on a recent adventure. He smiled to himself. He was sure it'd be enough to make up for 'not blue.'

In her room, freshly showered and a towel wrapped around her, Rose sat on her bed and dialed Jackie's number.

"Hello?" Jackie answered.

"Mum."

"Sweetheart! I wasn't expecting a call from you tonight!"

"Got a bloke at the apartment, then?" She rolled her eyes and smiled. She heard _Il Divo_ wailing in the background and that could mean only one thing.

"Oh, well." Jackie paused to think. "No, he's been hanging around, just helping me fix things, cute little blond bloke. Anyway, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Mum. Just wanted to hear your voice. We're about to head out again. The Doctor's got some surprise or other he wants to show me. I'm gonna go get ready, yeah?"

"I'll see you soon."

"See you, Mum."

"Alright, be careful. Bye!"

Rose turned her phone in her fingers. She heard a sadness in Jackie's voice. She would have to follow up on that later. She set her phone on the table and went back to her en suite to style her hair.

The Doctor heard Rose's feet on the grating and stepped up from underneath the console. "All better?"

"Yep! Where we off to now?"

"You'll see!" He walked over to a closet just out of the console room in the corridor and changed his shirt and tie.

Rose was bummed, because she rather enjoyed that shade of dark teal in combination with that tie, but her dismay was quickly forgotten as she watched him. She was mesmerized by his tousled hair from working on the console and his popped collar and him knotting his tie.

After a quick fixing of his hair in a small mirror, he noticed she was staring. "Rose?"

She blinked a few times. "Yeah, sure."

He met her where she stood close to the console. "Sure, what? I didn't ask anything." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, I was…lost in thought."

He processed her vitals. _Heartbeat elevated. Pupils dilated. Detecting increased level of dopamine…yes, acetylcholine, and oxytocin. Which means…oh. Oh._

She was so _human._ And he loved her for it.

She was _really_ going to love his surprise.

He, of course, was familiar with the concept of arousal and its physical consequences. He was also familiar with the mechanics. He'd been around the universe for a long time and had even engaged with this aspect of humanity himself, and though he enjoyed the experience, it wasn't particularly special. Not like it would be with Rose. And it certainly hadn't happened in this incarnation or the one before, not since Rose stepped on board the TARDIS.

What was the custom that human couples performed after a row…make-up copulation? Would that be good enough for Rose? Not that he wouldn't mind copulation with Rose himself…

He smirked down at her, to which she blushed, and released the handbrake.

"Quick flight to the Andromeda galaxy. Won't be a mo'." He bounced on his heels, and then fidgeted with his tie, stuck his hands in his pockets—

"Doctor, you're extra fidgety, even by your standards."

He grinned at her. "I'm really excited, Rose."

"Well, so am I, then."

"Nope, I don't think you're nearly as excited as _meeeeee_!" He picked her up and spun her around and she laughed.

The TARDIS signaled with her landing _thud_.

He reached for his Joplin coat on a coral strut and bounded for the door. "Come on, Rose!"

She ran after him and grabbed his hand as she stepped out the door.

They stepped out into a small clearing in a forest. The landscape wasn't much different from Earth, except the grass was more blue, and the leaves on the trees were more yellow. And Rose could swear she heard humming, a calm melody with much _rubato_ , but looked around when she couldn't figure out the source.

"That melody you're hearing is the wind catching the leaves in the trees. It ebbs and flows with the breeze. This is Skillon VI, home of the peaceful Kru race. And in that village over there," he pointed through the trees, "we'll find what we came for."

"What's that, Doctor?"

"You'll see. Come on!" He tugged on her hand and ran towards the village.

When they arrived, Rose saw a village full of tall, slender beings with skin the color of heliotrope flowers. They wore flowing gray garments. Some sat in groups and played music together while others bartered at various market stalls.

The Doctor stopped at a stall that emitted smells akin to a candy shoppe and waited while a Kru was busy decorating a cake in the back. He winked at Rose.

She smiled out of curiosity and his eyes lit up.

"Tuq'ort!" the Doctor called.

Tuq'ort raised his head from his task and turned. The alien peered at him for a moment through ice blue eyes, and then spoke. "Is that you, Doctor? Have you changed faces?" The language had a melodious quality to it.

"Yep! A few times—well, four times—since you last saw me."

"Oh, and who is your lovely companion?"

"Rose Tyler," she answered. "Pleased to meet you."

"And you! Now, Doctor, she won't try to prevent you from eating a treat like the young lady with the firey ringlets, will she?"

"Mel," the Doctor directed at Rose. "She was a health nut, always making me drink carrot juice or ride a stationary bike. Oh, and that girl could _screech_. Once won a contest against a Howling Peth in the next village over. They made her Queen for a day—"

"No, I love sweets." Rose gently touched his arm and cut him off to answer the waiting alien.

"Tuq'ort, can you make us your finest damia? Rose has never had one, and I thought she should try the best."

"What's that, Doctor?" Rose asked.

He smiled. "You'll see."

"It would be my pleasure, Doctor. Shouldn't be but a song. Have some tea in the meantime." He fetched them two cups and a quick-boiled kettle and turned to begin working on the damia.

They took a seat at one of the tables near the stand and the Doctor poured a cup for Rose. The tea was a dark teal color and tasted mildly sweet when she sipped.

"Oh, this is good, Doctor." She sipped some more.

"Made from the leaves on the trees. When boiled, they turn this shade, and it's naturally sweetened by the glucose in the leaves."

"What did he mean by 'shouldn't be but a song?'"

He motioned towards the nearby group of Krus who were playing instruments similar to guitars, flutes, and drums, others dancing with fans that also made music depending how they moved through the air, and still others simply singing. "Essentially, our damia shouldn't take longer than one of their songs. They last for about a half hour on average, more depending on if there's a special event. They noodle around together, each taking turns with the lead and passing it off to the other. It's all very improvisatory. Some play during the day, and they'll pass the responsibility to others to play through the night."

Rose smiled. "That's really lovely. No wonder they're so peaceful."

"Music is practically their life force. The breeze is almost always blowing so they hear a base melody all day and night, and it changes with the time of day and the seasons. The people play with the melodies they hear. The harmony is quite breathtaking at times. I came here because the Zellots from a nearby planet stopped the rotation of the planet, which stopped the breeze. The Kru were withering away without their music. Mel and I happened to arrived just in time to stop the Zellots, start the planet rotating again, and they came alive. They hold a month-long festival every year in remembrance."

"What do they sing about?"

"Anything, really. The sun and moons, stars, of course, but they'll also sing about colors or love or sadness or whatever they bartered for at the market."

Rose turned her attention toward the group of nearby players and listened as they turned and riffed on phrases in their song.

 _The howl of a wolf, she sings_

 _Her song written on rose petals_

 _Scattered on the winds of time_

 _A letter to herself_

 _A perfect rose_

A few times they had both felt the hair on the backs of their necks stand at attention as they recognized the subject matter of the current song.

The Doctor cleared his throat after some time. "Did I mention they were also mildly telepathic?"

Rose smiled. "Figured that out."

They held each other's gaze for a moment, electricity crackling between them. Something in his eyes, some longing she could see in his dark eyes, left her breathless.

"Excuse me, Doctor and Rose, your damia." Tuq'ort placed their dish on the table, along with two spork-like utensils. They thanked him.

"Sporks, Doctor." She picked it up and grinned at it.

"Where do you think the idea came from? I found it here and took it back to Earth. Best utensil in the universe, if you ask me. Perfect for eating this, and I think you'll understand why."

Rose turned her attention to the dish in question. It was a dome-shaped cake pudding, a deep mahogany color. "Doctor, this smells divine." She closed her eyes to savor the aroma. "Like chocolate, but richer, maybe with some cinnamon."

The Doctor grinned in anticipation. "Dig in," he invited. "You get the first bite."

Rose plunged her spork into the cake and found it was denser than she anticipated. She found she had to approach it more slowly. When she had a sufficient bite on her spork, she drew it to her mouth. "So thick, but it's moist," she said in between bites. "And, oh, god, this is so much better than Swiss chocolate." She closed her eyes and moaned loudly through another bite.

The Doctor nearly lost it. Rose hadn't known his thoughts from earlier, the ones about copulation, did she? Had she done that on purpose? Or were his own desires simply magnifying the effect she had on him? His cheeks suddenly felt warm. He wiped his face with his hand and turned his body away from her, hoping to recover from the sudden onslaught of certain neurotransmitters.

Rose noticed, and swallowed her bite. "Doctor, is something wrong?"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Nothing," his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Nothing's wrong."

"Something's up," she said.

His cheeks flushed again as he desperately tried to tame himself.

Rose set her spork on her napkin. "Doctor," she started. She threaded her arms underneath his and reached up to his shoulders, resting her chin next to her hand. "If something's wrong, you can tell me."

Not helping, she was. If she kept this up, he'd have to take her back to the TARDIS.

"Do we need to go back to the TARDIS? Maybe we can go somewhere else?" she asked.

Oh, dear.

He swallowed thickly, trying to concentrate, desperately hoping for anybody or thing to save him.

"More tea?" Tu'quort had walked over with another freshly brewed pot. He winked at the Doctor.

"Oh, thank Rassilon," he breathed and muttered to himself.

Rose let him go so she could take the kettle. "Thanks," she smiled at their server.

The Doctor saluted him as he turned to head back to the open air kitchen.

"Would tea help, Doctor?" She poured a cup for him and held it out.

"Yes." He was terribly embarrassed that he'd made such a mental spectacle of himself in front of a telepathic race. Perhaps he should have considered that before he decided to bring Rose here.

He turned his body towards the table again and downed the hot liquid in one shot. He hissed at the heat, but he was grateful for the distraction as he regained composure of himself. He set the cup down a little louder than intended. "I'm fine," he stated matter-of-factly. When he was finally able to look at Rose, she was staring at him with big eyes. "Really, I'm fine, Rose." He needed to distract her. "Erm, care to venture a guess as to what this is?" He pointed at the pudding.

She squinted her eyes and peered at him. "Are you sure you're fine?"

He squinted in return. "Don't dodge my question."

"Don't dodge mine," she shot back with a slight grin. She wasn't budging.

"Rose, I promise I'm fine. Just had a…" he moved his hand around in the air, "thing for a moment and now I'm fine. Now guess, please," he said with a slight whine.

She squinted at him again.

He nodded his head in the direction of the pudding.

She dropped her gaze. "Whatever this is, it's the best pudding I've had in my life." She picked up her spork again and dug in for another bite.

He was relieved that she wouldn't push further. "Not just any pudding, Rose. This is the best _tulgey_ pudding you'll eat anywhere in the universe."

"Tulgey pudding?" she raised an eyebrow. "Like you said when—"

"When we were on Black Island. I told you I'd buy you a tulgey pudding someday. And that day is today, Rose Tyler."

He turned his attention to the pudding. He was about to put the spork to his mouth, but Rose Tyler made it to his lips first. She gripped around his shoulders and clutched the nape of his neck.

She tasted so good, the flavor of the chocolate lingering on her lips due to the density and moisture of the pudding. And did he ever savor it, and she let him.

She pulled back with a grin, and then quick as a flash, she grabbed his spork and took the waiting bite as her own. "Thank you," she offered when she finished her—well, his—bite.

All he could do was stare.

Really, that wasn't fair of her, with the way she was teasing him today, even if she had no idea the effect she had on him.

She smiled and looked down at the pudding for a few more bites, and he did the same, except he kept giving her a side-eye the whole time, seeking out another opportunity, because a brief taste of Rose wasn't good enough. They listened to the music in silence for a few moments. He noticed a bit of the pudding on the corner of her mouth, and he went in for the kill—

Rose's mobile rang in her pocket. She pulled it out and licked her lips, much to the Doctor's dismay, and looked at the screen. "Mum," she announced.

The Doctor set his spork on the table, leaned back in his chair, and sighed. Bless Jackie Tyler, but did she really have to call at this particular moment?

She answered. "Hello? Mum?" After a moment, her eyes went wide and she sounded furious. "He did what?"

The Doctor immediately snapped to attention.

"Tell me when. We'll be right there." She listened for a moment longer. "I'm coming, Mum." She hung up and set her mobile on the table forcefully.

"Some wanker named Elton was hanging around with my mum, and she thought she was making a friend, but he was just trying to get information out of her about us. About you. Had my picture in his jacket and everything."

He was upset for Jackie, but the mention of Rose's picture in this creep's jacket set his blood boiling. "Go to the TARDIS. I'll be right after you."

The Doctor left a coin for Tuq'ort. He apologized for leaving so abruptly and ran to catch up with Rose.

"Elton, right? The TARDIS can track him down." After setting the TARDIS controls, he looked up at Rose leaning on the console across from him. She was facing the door with her arms crossed. He circled around to her. "You can do whatever you want with him. I won't stop you. Just let me make sure it's safe first. I know you can hold your own, and it's bad enough that he hurt your mother." He clenched his jaw. "Rose, he had your picture in his pocket, and I don't like that."

She took note of his wrath bubbling beneath the surface and nodded in response.

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a dead end street.

The Doctor stormed out with clenched fists, and was a bit surprised to find the blond bloke from the factory. This was no coincidence. He was definitely important for something. Better calm down long enough to find out what that is. "Someone wants a word with you."

Rose stormed out, also surprised to find the man from the factory. She would let the Doctor deal with that. First things first. "You upset my mum!"

Elton looked a bit incredulous. He motioned to the alien next to him. "Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you're having a go at me?"

She hadn't even noticed the green blob standing next to him. Oh, and he was disgusting, too. Were those faces in his skin? No matter. She'd seen worse in her travels and wasn't phased by his misdirection. "No one upsets my mum."

The ugly alien interrupted. "At last, the greatest feast of all. The Doctor!"

The Doctor stepped forward. "Interesting. A sort of Absorbatrix? Absorbaclon? Absorbaloff?"

"Absorbaloff, yes," he said proudly.

Now that she was taking a closer look, his skin was a familiar shade of green, almost like vomit. And he almost reeked of vomit, too. She leaned over to the Doctor. "Is it me or is he a bit Slitheen?"

"Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?"

"No, I'm not. They're swine. I spit on them," he said with hatred. "I was born on their twin planet."

"Really?" The Doctor sounded amused. "What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?"

"Clom."

"Clom," the Doctor repeated.

Nobody else would notice, but Rose knew the Doctor was dying inside. She would have to revisit that later.

"Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, once I possess your travelling machine."

Rose scrunched her face in disgust as the Absorbaloff swirled his tongue around his lips.

"Well, that's never going to happen," the Doctor replied.

"Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor, or this one dies. You see, I've read about you, Doctor. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him, unless you give yourself to me."

 _Second verse, same as the first_ , as the song says. How many times had they heard similar threats?

The Doctor tugged on his ear. "Sweet, maybe. Passionate, I suppose. But don't ever mistake that for nice. Do what you want."

Rose opened her mouth to question him. That wasn't like him.

"He'll die, Doctor." The Absorbaloff couldn't quite believe it either.

"Go on, then." The Doctor nodded in Elton's direction.

Elton must've really angered him. Surely he was bluffing.

The Absorbaloff looked around awkwardly for a moment. "So be it." He stretched out his hand toward Elton.

"Mind you," the Doctor interjected, "the others might have something to say."

Rose smiled up at him. Of course he was bluffing.

"Others?"

"He's right. The Doctor's right. We can't let him. Oh, Mister Skinner, Bridget, pull!"

 _Where'd that woman's voice come from?_ Rose wondered, but then she understood. Her eyes went wide. Of all the monsters in the universe she had seen, this had to be the most bizarre. The young lady's face in the Absorbaloff's torso was still conscious. She hadn't expected that. This beast was disgusting.

Even more disgusting were these faces, these faces that used to be humans, pulling to tear the Absorbaloff apart. When Elton broke the cane, he dissolved completely and disappeared into the ground.

"What did I do?" Elton asked.

"The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stop. The absorber is being absorbed."

"By what?"

"By the earth," he said, as if that should have been obvious. He was still irritated with Elton.

Then they all noticed one of the stones moving. Something was trying to reach through the stone…the face she heard earlier?

She spoke. "Bye, bye, Elton. Bye, bye."

Rose watched a tear trail down Elton's cheek. He was sad about losing this woman. "Who was she?"

Elton said, "That was Ursula," as if that was all he needed to say.

The Doctor looked at the square where Ursula's face had been as Rose went to Elton's side to offer comfort. How human that was. That was his Rose, full of compassion. Everything she did was so _human_.

He understood Elton's sadness. Clearly, this woman meant a lot to Elton.

Rose looked up at the Doctor with doe eyes. And if Rose was fine, he couldn't be angry anymore.

He saw Elton's face turned down in grief. And then his brain fired on all cylinders.

The shade. The Howling Halls. The house. The woman, the mother he couldn't save that night. The child who had come down the stairs.

Elton was that child.

"Elton, I've met you before. I don't mean a few days ago. When you were young."

Elton looked up at the Doctor, brows furrowed. "I know you were in my house one night. I never figured out why. That's why I wanted to find you."

He moved to sit next to Elton. "You don't remember, do you?"

Elton thought for a moment, and then looked at the Doctor again, a flicker of a memory of his mother written on his face.

"There was a shadow in your house. A living shadow in the darkness. An elemental shade had escaped from the Howling Halls. I stopped it, but I wasn't in time to save her. I'm sorry."

Another tear fell. Elton put his head in his hands.

Rose wrapped her arms around his shoulders a little tighter as he sobbed. She looked over at the Doctor, who was gazing off into the distance. Her heart broke for him. Another person he'd been unable to save.

After a few moments, Elton broke the silence. "It's not your fault, though. You didn't mean for it to happen."

The Doctor didn't speak.

"You go around trying to save everybody. You've saved London and the world so many times, probably more than we all know. But you can't always save everyone. If that…alien shade thing hadn't been there, my mother wouldn't have died. I miss her, but if she hadn't died, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have met LINDA. I wouldn't have met Ursula. And if you hadn't stopped the shadow when you did, maybe I'd be dead, too."

Elton turned to Rose. "I'm sorry about your mum. I only wanted to find the Doctor so I could find answers. I was stupid. Please tell her I'm sorry."

"I will," she replied.

The Doctor stood to walk to the TARDIS.

Rose patted Elton on the shoulder. "We'll be leaving then. I'm sorry about Ursula."

The Doctor turned suddenly, eyes wide. "Don't be sorry yet, Rose." He rushed over to the paver where Ursula's face had appeared. He perched himself over the stone and activated the sonic. "If I can key into the absorption matrix and separate the last victim...it's too late for total reconstruction, but…" The concrete bubbled. "Elton! Fetch a spade!"

Elton rushed over and knelt down on his hands and knees and watched as Ursula's face formed in the paver. She gasped and opened her eyes.

"Elton, is that you? Elton!" she exclaimed.

"Ursula! It's you, Ursula!" He brought his face close to hers and snogged her good. He pulled back. "I love you, Ursula. I never got to tell you. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, Elton! I love you, too."

And they snogged again.

The Doctor watched with eyes wide. He'd seen a lot of strange things around time and space, and this definitely made his list of top ten. Well, top fifteen. Top twenty. But it was definitely up there.

Rose grinned at the sight of the reunited lovers. She walked over to the Doctor and linked her arm through this. "Thank you for saving her."

He looked down at her with a gentle smile. "Least I could do for him."

Elton jumped up. "Spade! Where do I find a spade?" He looked around desperately.

Brows knit, the Doctor dug through his pockets and pulled out, of all things, a spade.

Elton lifted the paver out of the sidewalk, and after thanking the Doctor profusely and offering goodbyes to them both, started off down the street with his stone love in hand.

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the TARDIS exterior.

Rose linked her arm through his again. "Doctor, when did that happen, with Elton's mum? We've been together this whole time—"

"Except when I dropped you off for a few days after the parallel world." He gazed off into the distance.

She threaded her arms underneath his coat around his waist to embrace him. She looked up at him with compassionate eyes.

He looked down at her, and then he wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on her hair. He sighed.

After a few moments, the Doctor asked, "Want to visit your mum?"

"Only if you stay this time."

"Fair enough." He took her hand and led her into the TARDIS.

Jackie Tyler washed the few dishes in her sink and stared out her window at the park down below.

Most days she was fine, but today she wasn't. She missed Rose terribly, and even that daft alien, if she was honest with herself.

She thought about the previous night, trying to seduce Elton and then getting Rose's phone call. Elton had wanted to be nice in the end, had genuinely wanted to buy her a pizza, but the thought of him using her to get information about the Doctor and Rose angered her. She was upset because she wanted to protect her daughter, but she was also selfishly upset that Elton hadn't been there for her.

She felt left behind. Rose had the Doctor, and she was off living her life now among the stars, and she wouldn't ever settle for coming back. Jackie was happy for Rose. She was really living after 19 years of simply existing. After 18 years without Pete, Jackie had worked hard to provide for Rose with all that she could, and now her daughter was happy. That was all she could ask for.

But what was left for Jackie now? At least when Mickey was still in this universe, she had someone with whom she could relate. Micks and Jackie spent a lot of time together. She and Mickey could look for interesting things together. She smiled when she remembered Mickey bringing up the article about Deffry Vale School.

"You think I should call Rose about this?" Mickey had asked.

"If you think it's suspicious, go for it. Would be nice to see those two again anyway."

She remembered how excited Mickey was when he announced he had a surprise in the British Museum he wanted to share with all of them, and it turned out to be the statue of Rose.

But he was gone now. She didn't have anyone who would understand what she was going through, and that made it difficult to make friends. Her neighbors knew that strange things happened in her flat, and conversations tended to venture to the awkward.

When would she find her own adventure? She felt like she'd done nothing with her life, and now that Rose was gone most of the time, what purpose was there for her but to wait for the next call or visit? Ever since Rose took off with 'Big Ears and Leather,' it was sometimes weeks—in one mistaken case, 12 months—before she heard from her. What if she was dead out there somewhere? What if she was hurt? What if himself leaves her stranded again somewhere?

And sometimes when she did hear from her, it was in connection to something happening with the Doctor. Aliens would attack London or she had to flirt with the Doctor that one time to make Rose jealous because of some alien worm living in her brain.

Make no mistake, Jackie was committed to her daughter through and through, and she would be there for her for the rest of her life if she could. She was happy to be available for her daughter any time she needed.

But she wanted more. She wanted to feel alive like Rose felt alive.

The Doctor had affected her, too, even though she hardly spent any time with him, and most of the other time was spent being furious with and loving himself for whisking her Rose away. Her feelings were very complicated.

And, right on cue, she heard the familiar whooshing of air and vworp of the approaching police box. She wiped a few tears with her sleeve, dried her hands on a tea towel, and poked her head out of the kitchen to watch the TARDIS appear in her living room.

Once it had fully landed, the door opened and Rose appeared. She smiled when she saw Jackie and ran over to give her a hug.

The Doctor stuck his head out and said, "Alright, then, I'll just be going back in the—"

"Oh, no you don't, mister! Come here!" Jackie ran over and grabbed him in a big bear hug and kisses on both his cheeks.

Rose giggled as she watched the Doctor squirm. Deep down, beneath all that disgust, she knew he loved Jackie. After a moment of fun, Rose said, "We ran into Elton, Mum."

Jackie let go of the Doctor and turned towards Rose. "Did you give him the what for?"

"Ladies," the Doctor interrupted, taking that as his cue to leave. He addressed them both with a small wave, which Rose returned with small wave of her own and a smile.

Jackie rolled her eyes at her two idiots in love and pushed the Doctor back into the TARDIS. "Get in there with your daft self! I need time with my daughter." She pulled the door firmly shut.

Rose laughed again and then sat on the sofa. Jackie joined her.

"I tried to be angry with him, but I found out that his mum died when he was little. The Doctor was there, tried to stop it from happening, and he couldn't. So Elton started searching for answers, and somehow he found himself with this group of friends, LINDA United, they called themselves, and they bonded over their stories and searches for the Doctor. And then this horrid man joined their circle and took over. He was the one who wanted to hurt the Doctor, but he didn't tell them that. He was the one who encouraged Elton to go after you. Elton told me to tell you he was sorry. He didn't want to hurt you." She decided to leave out the fact that the horrid man had been a disgusting, man-absorbing alien.

Jackie shook her head. "In the end, I know he wanted to be my friend." She looked up at Rose. "Well, if you're fine, then I'll be fine, too." She knew Rose had an uncanny ability to read people.

"Mum, you didn't sound fine when I called you earlier. You sounded sad. That was before anything happened. What's wrong?"

"'S'just that—" she couldn't say all of what she was feeling. She didn't want Rose to feel guilty for leaving, not when she was happy. "I'm happy for you. You're out there, living your life, with the man—well, alien of your dreams."

"But you feel left behind?"

"Well—" she searched for words to help Rose understand, "I'm fine with staying here. A life out among the stars, all that danger, that's really not for me. It's been bad enough when all the monsters and aliens show up here at home. I jumped right in the Thames that time you were under the water! I don't need all that."

Rose brushed a few strands of hair from Jackie's cheek. "Your adventure's out there somewhere."

"I get up and go to work day after day. Same old life, you know? I need to find an hobby."

They enjoyed their heart to heart for a while longer before Rose and Jackie said their goodbyes.

Rose opened the door to the TARDIS.

"Hello!" she heard from underneath the console. "Just a tic," he requested. "Aaaaaaaand," Rose heard a part snap into place, "done!" She watched him climb out from the grating.

He had shed his suit jacket, so he was in his Oxford and tie, with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms. His hair was artfully tousled, grease smeared on his right cheek. He put on his specs to check a reading on the monitor.

Rose was lost again. God, he was gorgeous, wasn't he?

"Now!" He turned and stopped when he found her staring at him again. He smiled mischievously. "What, Rose?"

She approached him slowly. She smoothed her fingers down his tie. "I like how you look."

He swallowed thickly. His eyes trained on hers, he slowly ran his hands down her arms and laced his fingers through hers. "Am I forgiven yet?"

"For what, Doctor?" She knit her brows in confusion.

"'Not blue.' I promised I would make up for my mistake. Have I done that?"

Her eyes softened at his vulnerability. "Of course. I had completely forgotten about it."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Doctor," Rose said.

"Yes, Rose?"

"Clom," was all she said.

"Clom!" His face lit up with that grin she loved, the one that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

They both erupted in laughter that lasted for a while.

"You know what else, Doctor?"

"Yes?" He wrapped his arms around her.

"Y—you have a fan club," she said, unable to stifle another giggle.

"Well, had. Of sorts." He dropped his arms from around her and ran a hand through his hair.

"You. You have a—fan club." She gripped his arms and giggled uncontrollably.

"What's so funny about having my own—"

"Fan club!" She finished his sentence between fits of laughter.

He crossed his arms and feet and leaned on the console. He waited for her to finish.

His bottom lip jutted out beautifully, Rose noticed. She loved when he pouted, specifically for that reason.

"Done?" he asked.

She linked her arm in his, placed her chin on his shoulder, and gazed at him through her eyelashes. "If you have a fan club, I'm probably…what, the president?"

He looked down at her. "Yeah, well, I better be the only member in yours. I don't need blokes walking around with your picture in their pockets."

She smiled. "You don't want to share me around?"

He said, with no hint of a smile, "No."

And with that, such an intimate remark as that, revealing to himself yet again the depth of his feelings for Rose, he tucked his earlier thought of "make-up copulation" with Rose away in his mind for another day. His hesitancy was not because he was afraid of his feelings for her. He had moved past all that.

The thought of something so casual felt…wrong in this moment. They hadn't yet engaged in physical intimacy, and he wanted their first time to be special. Such intimacy on the level he desired with her in this moment would require not only his body, but also his mind. He was not yet ready to open that part of himself for reasons that had very little to do with Rose. The time would come for that, but today was not that day.

Rose bit her thumb and ventured to break the silence that fell between them. "Were you going to kiss me earlier?"

He blinked. Skillon 6, the pudding—he hadn't forgotten, not with the way she had him feeling earlier in the day, but he didn't think she noticed that particular moment.

Of course she had noticed.

"Yes."

She glanced at his lips. "You could right now."

He held out his hand. "Mobile."

She pulled it out of her pocket and placed it in his hand.

He only looked away to turn the blasted device off, and then met her eyes again. Without looking, he tossed it behind him. It bounced once or twice on the grating and slid a few inches, but neither of them seemed to notice or care when he wrapped his arms around her and descended upon her glorious lips. She threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. She still tasted of chocolate.

Nearly a week after the Doctor and Rose left, Jackie Tyler stood in her kitchen again. She heard the phone ring. Her friend, Peggy, frantically blabbered on about a ghost in her cellar.

Sounds like something the Doctor and Rose would get caught up in. She had seen crazy things in the last few years, and while she was somewhat frightened, she stayed with Peggy that night so she could see the ghost for herself.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of it when she did see it. She watched the world erupt in fear as more and more ghosts appeared and then disappeared and reappeared. She waited for the Doctor to show up to save them all, but he never did. Must not be that bad, she figured. He always showed up when the world needed him.

She was taken aback the first time a ghost appeared in her own kitchen. She was about to call Rose, but it didn't do anything except stand there. If it didn't pose a threat, and the Doctor didn't show up, then it must be safe.

And, secretly, it thrilled her. She would have something exciting to share with Rose the next time she showed up. This would be a way for her to connect with her daughter and her life in the stars.

She watched the world accept the ghosts after a week of sightings, some even claiming that the ghosts were the spirits of their long-dead relatives. Come to think of it, her ghost smelled like old cigarettes, like her father.

So she began talking to her father when he showed up a few times a day. She told him all about how little Rose grew up to be an amazing young woman. She was so excited to have her own adventure, and she was excited to be able to connect with her neighbors and hear their own stories about their ghosts. She felt like she had a purpose in life again. It helped fill her time before the Doctor and Rose came home two months later.


	5. Book of Love

Rose awoke late in the morning.

She was quite drowsy, struggling to open her eyes. After a few moments, she noticed a note on the Doctor's pillow next to her. She reached for it and read.

 _When you're ready for the day, meet me in the library. - Your Doctor_

She smiled and rolled over. She grimaced at the soreness of her body, and then remembered why she felt that way.

The adventure in the previous days had been brutal.

They'd been to Africa in the 22nd Century. Rose had been through so much physically, bruised ribs and bruises elsewhere and a twisted ankle. She'd been in mortal danger again when the Valnaxi captured her. The process of creating the template from her body had left her ragged.

As soon as the Doctor sent them into the time vortex, he noticed her slumped shoulders and slight hobble. She clutched her side and winced slightly. Rose had been magnificent in the end, as always, but the adrenaline from the day was wearing off quickly. So he carried her to the med bay, bridal style, with her arms around his shoulders and her nose nuzzled into his neck. He set her on the table so the TARDIS's medical machinery could do its work, healing her bruises and working on her ankle. He did mention that while the TARDIS could mend some things, she would still experience quite a bit of soreness. Her body needed to heal naturally.

"I'll plan for a day in tomorrow. That alright with you?" He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

She gently smiled and nodded before succumbing to sleep.

As soon as the TARDIS was finished, he gingerly picked her up and tucked her into her bed. She never stirred.

He crossed the room to his side of the bed. He lay next to her and watched her sleep for a bit. The memory of her being swallowed up by the molten Valnaxi guard was still fresh in his mind.

Eventually, he cracked open a book on Egyptian gods and goddesses. He liked to brush up on his mythology every now and then, particularly after their trip to India when they'd found that the Bad Wolf had leaked into parts of Hindu legends. What other bits of mythology contained traces of the Bad Wolf?

He smiled when he reached a certain page and earmarked it.

He lingered for a while longer and reassured himself that she would be fine. He scrawled a note on scrap paper and left it on his pillow for her to find in the morning and headed to the library.

Rose heard the water in her en suite turn on.

The TARDIS gently hummed. She was running a hot bath for Rose.

"Oh, thank you, old girl."

She slowly walked to her en suite and saw a jar of Venusian bath salts on the edge of the tub. She opened the jar and it smelled of sandalwood and musk, like a good-smelling man.

She eased into the hot water and sighed as her tension melted away.

She heard music, the opening rifts of "In Da Club." Her eyes widened, and then she laughed. She started rapping along, bobbing and weaving her head. She knew the lyrics by heart, having danced to it with Shareen and Keisha countless times in the clubs. The TARDIS continued playing a rundown of the top 40 lists from 2003 and 2004.

After she finished soaking, she stepped out of the tub and toweled down. The soak helped tremendously. Her favorite robe hung on the back of the door, and the TARDIS provided some nibbles on the counter, which she enjoyed as she went through her morning routine. She found her comfy pants and a t-shirt and slippers, pulled her hair into a low ponytail, and headed out the door towards the library, which the TARDIS had graciously shifted to only a few paces from her room. She leaned on the doorframe and watched the Doctor.

He sat in a navy blue wingback chair, legs propped up on a coffee table and ankles crossed. He wore his glasses and was absorbed in a book. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and she could see two mugs of tea on warmers on a small table next to him.

She smiled. He was gorgeous like this.

When he didn't look up from his book, she cleared her throat. Not that she minded at all. It was a rare treat seeing him so peaceful, and she enjoyed it while she could.

"Oh, Rose!" He smiled up at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a little stiff, but I'm fine."

"That's good, a sign that you're healing. I can get you some pain reliever, if you'd like? 51st Century. It's powder so it'll go right in your tea, and you won't feel anything for a week."

"In a bit. I'd rather come sit with you for now."

He gently smiled and laid the book on the table. He held out his arms in invitation for her as she made her way to his chair.

She settled in his lap, leaning back against the wing of the chair and resting her legs over the arm. He tenderly wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You smell good," he noted, sniffing her shoulder.

She giggled. "The TARDIS gave me a mini spa morning. Brought out the Venusian bath salts, played music for me, gave me snacks."

He wrinkled his nose. "She never does anything like that for me!"

"You said so yourself. She likes me better than you. I think the evidence is conclusive."

"That's it. I'm flying her straight back to Gallifrey and I'm changing my personal history and I'm stealing a different TARDIS." He winced and looked up at the ceiling. "You know I didn't mean it!" he shouted. "She pinched me," he whined and gingerly massaged the side of his head, his face sour like a toddler's.

She reached to touch where he was rubbing, but he swatted her hand away.

She grabbed his hand. "Oh, you're fine. You know she likes you, too." She eyed the spot where he was tending. "She has to if she's been stuck with you, rattling about time and space for this long. She's stuck with you for longer than any of your companions. That was a bit rude. You can go stroke bits of the console later on to make it up to her, yeah?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but Rose cupped his face and cut him off with a smile. "Now, what did you want to show me?"

"Yes, right here, in this book, _Egyptian Deities_." He picked up the book off the table and opened it to the earmarked page. "I read this last night after you fell asleep and found a particularly interesting entry. I underlined the important parts. Read it, please?"

"Sure," she smiled, taking the book from his offering hands. She began reading from the page.

"Hathor is a goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshiped by royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as 'Mistress of the West' welcoming the dead into the next life. In other roles she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth, as well as the patron goddess of miners.

"She took the form of a woman, goose, cat, lion, malachite, sycamore fig, to name but a few. However, Hathor's most famous manifestation is as a cow and even when she appears as a woman she has either the ears of a cow, or a pair of elegant horns. When she is depicted as entirely a cow, she always has beautifully painted eyes.

"The Ancient Egyptians viewed reality as multi-layered in which deities who merge for various reasons, while retaining divergent attributes and myths, were not seen as contradictory but complementary. In a complicated relationship Hathor is at times the mother, daughter and wife of Ra.

"The Ancient Greeks sometimes identified Hathor with the goddess Aphrodite." She was familiar with that goddess. She looked over at the Doctor.

He blushed slightly.

"Doctor, why is that part imp—"

He cleared his throat and pointed to the next part of the text he wanted her to read. "Start from here, please."

She stifled a grin and continued. "She was also a goddess of destruction in her role as the Eye of Ra, defender of the sun god. According to legend, people started to criticism Ra when he ruled as Pharaoh. Ra decided to send his 'eye' against them (in the form of Sekhmet). She began to slaughter people by the hundred. When Ra relented and asked her to stop she refused as she was in a blood lust. The only way to stop the slaughter was to colour beer red (to resemble blood) and pour the mixture over the killing fields. When she drank the beer, she became drunk and drowsy, and slept for three days. When she awoke with a hangover she had no taste for human flesh and mankind was saved. Ra renamed her Hathor and she became a goddess of love and happiness. As a result, soldiers also prayed to Hathor/Sekhmet to give them her strength and focus in battle."

She looked at the Doctor and wrinkled her nose. "I think I understand what you're trying to say, but that's a bit gory, don't you think?" she teased.

He shook his head. "That's not the point, Rose." The Doctor turned to another page in the book. "Now read about Sekhmet."

"Sekhmet is one of the oldest known Egyptian deities. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word 'Sekhem' (which means 'power' or 'might') and is often translated as the 'Powerful One' or 'She who is Powerful.

"Sekhmet was represented by the searing heat of the midday sun (in this aspect she was sometimes called 'Nesert', the flame) and was a terrifying goddess. However, for her friends she could avert plague and cure disease. She was the patron of Physicians and Healers and her priests became known as skilled doctors. As a result, the fearsome deity sometimes called the 'lady of terror' was also known as 'lady of life.' Sekhmet was mentioned a number of times in the spells of The Book of the Dead as both a creative and destructive force, but above all, she is the protector of Ma'at (balance or justice) named 'The One Who Loves Ma'at and Who Detests Evil.'" She set the book on her lap and looked at the Doctor.

"Listen, Rose, some of the specific details about the goddesses aren't important. But here you have this goddess of love, among other things, and she takes on the likeness of another goddess and becomes a being of power."

"Like the Bad Wolf?" she smiled.

"Like the Bad Wolf," he said softly, with a gentle smile, his gaze darting between her lips and her eyes. "Like India, Egypt had its own rift. If bits of the Bad Wolf leaked through the rift like they did in India, those who saw the images would have interpreted them in accordance with their mythology. And just like those images turned out to be Durga and Parvati in Hindu legend, so here she may have become Hathor and Sekhmet."

Rose had a hard time listening to him, but she understood the basic gist of what he said. She was too busy being affected by the Doctor's glancing at her lips and his tongue absentmindedly darting out to wet his own. They normally enjoyed a good snog after near-death experiences, but because she'd been injured and had fallen asleep in the med bay, they hadn't been able to.

Yes, affected by his gaze, and, well, what he'd been trying to tell her, even if it was through the printed words on a page: she was written amongst the stars, and for him, someone who'd traveled around the universe for such a long time, that gave the stars their meaning; she was beautiful and she was desirable; he loved her.

"You know, Doctor," she started, a bit breathier than she had intended.

"Know what?" he asked, brushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"For someone who isn't human and certainly doesn't fancy domestics, you're really quite good at this 'boyfriend' thing."

"Helps when you fancy a Rose Tyler as your girlfriend." He removed the book from her hands and set it on the table next to him.

"Wait a minute." She placed a hand on his chest. "Hathor was a cow goddess. You comparing me to a cow?" she giggled.

"That's a _moo_ t point, don't you think?" He winked. He took her hand from his chest and kissed her fingers, holding her gaze.

She watched his eyes fall to her lips again, and she couldn't help herself any longer. She shifted so she was straddling his legs and leaned down to meet his eager lips.

The Doctor loved kissing Rose Tyler. He considered it an art form, loved painting masterpieces on her lips, wanted to learn all the ways she liked to be kissed, all the ways to get her to open to him, when to nip and suck, when to apply pressure and when to let up. He was, after all, a scientist, and as such, he'd tried a number of different moves and catalogued her responses to him. All of this, of course, wasn't a grand experiment. He loved how close he felt to Rose when they were like this. It made him feel alive. And most of all, he wanted to make Rose happy.

No two kisses were the same. Some were urgent and passionate, some were slow and sweet, some were slow and passionate, some were chaste, and some lasted for what seemed like eternity (but never long enough).

In this particular moment, he pictured them as the painting _Starry Night_. He was the dark sky, and she was warmth in the moon and the stars that gave the night its movement. The movement of their lips together ebbed and flowed like the trails of light.

Rose would pull back for breath, but he continued his ministrations on her jawline, just below her ear, felt bold enough to explore the join of her neck and shoulder, his fingers sliding in her hair to cradle her head when she tilted to give him access. When she was ready, her lips would find their way back to his. He silently thanked Rassilon for a respiratory bypass.

She was good with her lips, but he really loved her hands, how they made him feel when she twined her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck and when she rubbed her thumbs through his sideburns. He craved the tingling feeling in his chest when she slid her hands down his lapels.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and leaned slightly forwards.

She winced and tore her lips away from his.

His eyes went wide. "Rose!" he gasped. "Rose, are you alright?" His voice was slightly ragged.

"Forgot I was sore for a minute," she said, rubbing her side where her bruise had been, wincing again. "Bath salts only do so much, I guess."

He gently removed her hand that was tending to her side and pulled out the sonic. He activated it, waving it back and forth.

"That's better," she said.

He returned the sonic to his pocket. "I'm so sorry, Rose." He looked down and away from her.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't you start apologizing." She cupped his face so he would look at her. "I'm not having you feel all 'last of the Time Lords' guilty for that, frankly, damn good snog." She placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. "If you want to make it right, I'd say that 51st Century pain reliever is in order. And I'm hungry."

"To the galley, then?" He placed his hands on her hips to help as she lifted herself from his lap.

"Yep," she said with a popped 'p.' She stayed in her position, calves flush against the coffee table, so he would be close to her when he stood. She firmly held his lapels because he hadn't said anything of consequence yet, and she wouldn't let the matter, or his lapels, go until he did. "Seriously, Doctor, I was already sore. You didn't do anything to me. I'll be fine. I promise." She tugged on his tie and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "And I want to do more of that later after I'm less sore."

He finally smiled. "That was good, wasn't it?" He ran a hand through his hair.

She crinkled her nose and grinned, tip of her tongue in view. "That's more like it. Wouldn't be you if you didn't brag about your superior Time Lord kissing skills."

He furrowed his brows. "Rose Tyler, I would do no such thing."

She rolled her eyes and patted his chest. "Come on, Mr. Respiratory Bypass." She turned to walk out of the library, still holding his tie, pulling him in tow.


	6. Fear for Her

"You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will," Rose declared.

Normally the Doctor would have squeezed her hand and agreed, but something stopped him. "Never say 'never ever,'" he cautioned, though he wasn't quite sure from where those words came. His time sense was tingling, much like the feeling of static electricity before making contact with skin.

Rose, ever the optimist, her disposition for which he was grateful most of the time, shook off his statement. "Nah, we'll always be okay, you and me."

He desperately wished in this moment he could feel the same.

He peered into the sky, brows furrowed, as if that would help him see further into the darkness.

Rose gently tugged on his hand. "Don't you reckon, Doctor?" She was trying to distract him, he knew.

But he couldn't tear his gaze from the sky. "Something in the air. Something coming," he said softly.

"What?" she asked, all hope drained from her voice.

"A storm's approaching."

Rose gripped his arm a little tighter and pressed herself into his side.

He tore his gaze from the explosions in the sky and locked eyes with her.

There was a time at the beginning of this regeneration that this nagging feeling, this reminder of her mortality, would have caused him to run away from her.

But in this moment, rather than wanting to run away from her, he had the desperate need to run away with her and wrap her in cotton wool, to protect her from whatever was coming. He was not ready to lose her. He would never be ready to lose her.

"Doctor, I don't feel like going to the games anymore." Her eyes fell from his.

Blimey, he hadn't meant for the evening to take a turn like this. Why couldn't they ever just have fun without any aliens or Satan or the universe sticking their noses in to muck things up?

They'd had fun that whole day, even formed a bit of an unspoken friendly competition as to who could crack the case first. The Doctor had reveled in it. She was so much his equal, and it showed in the way she was able to read people and pick up clues he hadn't. Well, he'd have been able to notice things better if he hadn't allowed himself to be so distracted by her. She was so clever, so brilliant, and it drove him mad some days. This had been one of those days.

But this storm he sensed made his blood run cold. Something was coming for Rose.

"I don't either," he replied. "Come on." He tugged on her hand.

"Where are we going?"

"TARDIS." _And we're never stepping foot outside her again._ "Library? Could do with a good book about now."

"Sounds good to me."

He squeezed Rose's hand tighter all the way back to the TARDIS and said nothing else.

Once inside the doors, Rose asked, "Mind if I freshen up first?"

"Meet you in half an hour?"

"Sure." She smiled, which seemed to ease the tension.

He gave a half-smile in return.

"Aw, there's a smile, even if it's a little one." She kissed him on the cheek and made her way to her room.

Once Rose was clearly away from the console room, he put on his specs and circled around to the TARDIS monitor. He started a scan for any irregularities, beings, or strange energy sources that may have set off his senses.

"Let me see," he requested with a measured tone.

Nothing came up on the monitor.

"I need to know what happens to Rose."

He waited.

He said very slowly and emphatically, jaw clenched, "Let me see."

The TARDIS remained silent.

" _I need to know!_ " he shouted and slammed his fists down on the console.

The TARDIS needn't say anything. He knew seeing his own personal timeline wasn't allowed, much less Rose's.

He brought his fists together and rested his forehead on them for a long time. Eventually he sat on the jump seat and did nothing.

Nearing the half hour, he headed for the library to wait for Rose. He wouldn't be okay until he was able to feel her there with him.

To his surprise, she was already waiting for him in the middle of the sofa, her knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on her knees. She looked so small and fragile in the glow of the fire in the fireplace.

He sat at the end of the sofa next to her and watched her for a moment. She didn't move.

He sighed and leaned back into the arm of the sofa, crossing an arm in front of him. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

They didn't always need to talk when they were together. Sometimes they enjoyed silence. But this was not a good silence, and the Doctor was so out of sorts that he didn't even know where to begin any kind of conversation.

He felt a gentle pressure next to his thigh, and opened his eyes to see Rose had moved to sit close to him.

She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Doctor, I really thought for a moment I might have lost you today."

"You got me back, though. Wouldn't have gotten out of that picture if it hadn't been for you. I heard you tell the Isolus that I was the only one who could help it."

She scoffed at herself. "Yelled at it, more like."

"You were panicking. It's understandable. I yell all the time, especially where you're concerned. Don't be so hard on yourself. But think about it, Rose. You found the pod. You didn't need me to do that."

"You should've seen me, swinging a pickaxe. Broke right into that council tar."

"I'm sorry I missed that. Stuck it to the man, did you?" he quipped.

She giggled. "Is there a Planet of the Pickaxes we could visit?"

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair. "You should never doubt yourself. You were brilliant."

She looked up at him. "I learned from you, Doctor."

He smiled. "No, Rose, you are so brilliant. Always have been. I haven't done a thing."

She sat up, leaning back against the couch cushions. "Doctor, I'm not trying to pry, but what did you see out there?" She searched his eyes.

He was silent, desperately fighting against the fear she must have seen in him.

"You said something's coming. I could feel something, too, something with the TARDIS. She was feeling off. Something bad is coming. What are you not telling me?"

"Rose—"

She continued, her voice shaking. "The Beast. What the Beast said, about me dying in battle. I know you said it lied, but I think you said that to make me feel better. Is that it?"

He answered by pressing his lips to hers. He pulled back and gazed at her intently, and he said softly and emphatically, "I will _never_ let anything happen to you."

She took in his gaze for a moment, and then nodded.

"Come here. You need some rest." He opened his arms to her.

She moved to curl into his side against the back of the couch as he lay down, the Doctor removing the cushions behind her so she'd have more room. She placed her hand on his chest.

He put an arm around her shoulders and rested his cheek on her hair.

"I shouldn't have accused you like that. I'm sorry." She reached across him to run her fingers through the hair behind his ear. "I trust you, Doctor."

"No, Rose. No need to apologize." _You shouldn't trust me._ Whatever storm was coming, he figured it would be of his own making. That was just his luck in the universe.

Rose watched the fire as she drifted off to sleep, her hand resting on his shoulder.

His mind was spinning. Rose could swear up and down that she was never going to leave him, but he knew the eventual outcome. He didn't know how or when it would happen, but Rose would leave him, and it wouldn't be by his or her choice. He knew the course of all mortals and he knew that time was inescapable. But if he could stave it off for as long as he could, then he would. He would keep Rose out of harm's way.


	7. Cotton Wool

"Doctor, I notice that we haven't done much running lately."

It had been nearly two weeks linear time since they'd run into any sign of trouble, hopping from one docile planet to the next. Here they sat, on a planet the Doctor claimed to sell the best ice cream around, but he'd said that about the planet they'd visited a few days ago. He was really distracted by something, and Rose needed to figure out what it was before she went bananas.

Speaking of bananas, he was making good work out his scoop of banana ice cream, while she enjoyed her own scoop of ember cocana, which tasted of chocolate and strawberries.

"We don't need to get into trouble all the time, do we?"

"Well, no, but—"

He suddenly pulled her wrist to his tongue and licked a drip of melting ice cream at the bottom of her cone. He followed the trail up over her fingers and then swirled around her scoop.

She looked a bit incredulous, her gaze darting between his lips and his eyes.

"What? Your ice cream was dripping. No need to waste a good dripping."

"Doctor—"

"There's another one," and he did the same thing, eyes trained on hers this time.

Sensing he was trying to distract her, she let the matter go and grinned, and then her grin turned a bit mischievous. As quick as a flash, she moved her cone so her scoop smashed into his nose.

"Rose!" he chuckled, and he moved his hand to wipe it off, but she caught his hand and his eyes widened a bit.

"Looks like you've got a bit on your face." She licked the tip of his nose, and then kept her face near his.

He raised an eyebrow and his cone in a dramatic arc so he could take a lick off his, but managed to hit Rose's chin on the way. After giving her some serious side eye while he enjoyed his cone, watching Rose quirk her brow in a dare, he brought his face close to hers, eyes wandering to the offending spot. "Rose, you've got something on your chin."

"Aren't you going to get it for me?" she challenged.

"Yep," he said with a pop. He swiped her chin with his thumb, and triumphantly licked it. "Ha!" he added, quite chuffed with himself.

Rose squinted her eyes. "Hmm," was all she offered. She turned her full attention to finishing her cone.

The Doctor wasn't expecting that. "Well—Rose—hey—"

After a few seconds of enjoying her cone in silence, she made a show of stopping to notice him, and then barked out a laugh as she took in his face.

He had smeared his ice cream messily around his mouth and was holding his hands out in invitation.

Rose lost herself in a fit of laughter. She dropped the remainder of her cone on the ground.

The Doctor jutted out his bottom lip in a pout. "Roooose," he whinged, and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.

She eventually settled. "Git," she giggled and ribbed him with her elbow. "Come here, then."

Puppy dog that he was, he grinned and happily obeyed.

It was a sweet snog, in more ways than one.

The stop _du jour_ was on the beaches of Skaketera. This was the fifth beach trip they'd taken in a row. It had been fun at first. But as much as Rose loved the beach, she was tired of beach trips. If she never stepped foot on the beach of an alien planet again it would be too soon. She knew the Doctor never minded seeing her in her bikini, but she suspected this was about more than just wanting an excuse for her to put it on again.

She followed him to their lounge chairs and waited for him to sit down, and as soon as he did, she straddled the same chair facing him. His eyes widened in surprise.

"We need to talk, Doctor. And don't try to distract me this time, yeah?" She poked him in his chest.

He blinked and then looked away. Of course, she'd known what he'd been trying to do. Rose knew him so well, and he'd always been rubbish at hiding things from her.

"I've let you have your fun, but I'm about to go mad. I miss running, and you're avoiding something. You have been for a while. Every time I bring it up, you've tried to change the subject. You're hiding something, and I hate when you hide things from me.

"I know you're the last of the Time Lords and all that, but you're acting like you need to carry your burdens alone. You don't have to anymore because you have me. Whatever it is, you can tell me. Even if you don't want to tell me specifically what's going on, that's fine. I don't need to know every little thing. But if I can help you in any way, Doctor, I want to be able to. I know we've been having fun, and I don't regret any of that, but it doesn't feel honest if you're not all here with me because of whatever you're avoiding."

His lips parted with unformed words. She was right. In his effort to keep her safe, he was really missing time with her because of his preoccupation.

He closed his mouth and remained quiet for a moment, eyes glancing to the sand near Rose's foot.

She touched his arm. "Oh, now, Doctor, don't you get all guilty on me. Just talk to me."

He suddenly met her eyes with intensity. "Rose, I can't protect you forever."

"Doctor, I don't need you to. I don't want you to. I don't want you to avoid trouble because you're trying to protect me. You can't go making choices for me because you think you know what's best for me. And weren't you the one who told me I should never doubt myself? It feels like you're the one who's doubting me."

And there it was.

She was fiercely headstrong and independent, and she wouldn't take bollocks from anyone, including himself. She had this deliciously defiant streak in her, one that reflected his own, and the one that had captivated him from the moment he met her, but that also made for a point of conflict between them.

It came up when he tried to send her away from the Game Station and told her to have a fantastic life. She wouldn't have any of that and figured out the only way to make it back to him. Then he told her to stop wielding the Vortex, and she told him no and brought Jack back to life. When he confronted her mortality head on, he decided that it would be better to leave her sooner rather than later, and she bucked against him then. When he tried to keep her from seeing Parallel Pete, she told him she would do it with or without his permission.

And now he was doing it all over again, making her decisions for her, and she didn't care if he had the best of intentions.

And she could hold her own. She was the one who pointed out that the televisions were a problem at the Coronation. She was the one who vanquished Satan himself while they were escaping Krop Tor. She found the pod after the Isolus trapped him in her playground of drawings and helped Chloe and her mother lay her nightmares to rest.

And she wasn't afraid to confront him when he needed it. Daleks feared him, but Rose did not.

Saving the universe was his burden he chose to bear, and he often projected his need to protect the universe onto Rose. But Rose Tyler couldn't be contained by the universe, and certainly not by him.

And he loved this beautiful, brilliant woman because of it.

"You're right," he said. "But if something were to happen to you, I don't know that I'd ever be able to forgive myself."

"If something were to happen to me, it wouldn't be your fault. You hear me? You do what the rest of us do when we lose someone. You move on and you find your next companion. I won't have you travelling alone. Do you understand me, Doctor?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now come here, you git." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quick and hard. He barely had to time to react when she released his lips with a pop and said, "And now, I think we're due for some running." She stood from their chair and waited.

He was still trying to process what had transpired just then, still feeling her body up against his, his lips throbbing for more. He looked up at her blankly.

"Well, Time Lord, what are you waiting for? There's a whole ocean over there. Let's go!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

He stood dangerously close to her, and then grinned maniacally, tightened his grip on her hand, and bolted. They ran, laughing, all the way into the water (which wasn't entirely cold, much to Rose's appreciation) until they couldn't run anymore, crashing into the water, still holding hands.

They both broke the surface at the same time, finding their footing in the sand beneath the waist-deep water. The Doctor threw both fists into the air and crowed, with Rose laughing, and then he scooped her up in a hug and spun her around. He tripped over his own foot and they both fell into the water again.

When they stood, they found they'd drifted out a little deeper, the water chest high, and Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up face-to-face with him. "There's my Doctor," she smiled.

His arms found her waist and he grinned, that open-mouthed grin she loved so much, and hummed in response. He looked past her to the shoreline. "And there, I see, is apparently a scuba diving tour. Do you fancy that?" He angled his head to press his lips to her neck. "Never know what we could find in the depths," he added, his voice low and gravelly.

His warm breath tickled her cool skin and she shivered in his embrace. Oh, that wasn't fair at all. Did he know what he does to her? Did he do these things on purpose? "Sounds fine to me," she said, soft and breathy.

He pulled back and grinned at her again. "Off we go, then." He started walking forwards, carrying Rose with him.

And, of course, on the tour, they snuck off to some underground caverns and off-tour reefs, and it was a good thing they did, because the Doctor discovered they were harvesting the poim corals too eagerly, and it was throwing off the local ecosystem. When he had interrogated the governor of this particular region, he found that the planet had fallen under the heavy hands of the Cri. If they continued paying tribute to the Cri with their resources, they would drain their planet dry. The Skakaterans were a peaceful race, so it wouldn't help to start a revolution, and the Cri were more militaristic and lacked the skills to care for their own planet. It was a simple fix, really, and Rose came up with the solution. They negotiated with the Cri by getting the Skakaterans to train a few of the Cri until they learned to manage their own planet's resources. A quick hop forward in time revealed that the program was successful, and the Skakaterans were able to restore the balance of their ecosystem. Every ten years, the two planets held a year-long festival to commemorate their alliance.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose rested on the jump seat. She threaded her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to make one more relaxing stop?" he asked. "I had a leisure planet in mind. A diamond leisure planet! The resort is built under an X-tonic star, so there's no life on the surface. They've got a waterfall made of sapphires. It'll be gorgeous. Your mother would take one look and she'd never want to leave." His eyes lit up. "So let's go pick her up!" He tried to move towards the console, but Rose held onto his arm.

"Doctor!"

"What? I only want to show her a good time! Really, she doesn't know what she's missing."

"Doctor, do you really want my mum on board the TARDIS?"

He thought for a moment, tongue attached to the back of this teeth, and then shook his head. "Nah, I suppose not. D'you know what, though?"

"What?"

He stood and faced her, eyes bright. "I haven't taught you how to fly the TARDIS yet. Care for a spin?" He offered his hand.

"Yes!" she grinned.

He put his other arm around her waist and spun her around like they were dancing, and she laughed.

"Let's go!" He stopped, brows knit. "Oh, not quite sure how I feel about that phrase. I'll play with it later."


	8. Mirrorball

No running at this stop. Just a nice, peaceful planet, a bit of respite from the string of recent adventures.

It was a beautiful planet, tucked away in a quiet corner of the universe. Gentle creatures floated over their heads and amongst the stone columns that protruded from the tranquil sea.

"How long are you going to stay with me?" It was a simple question, one he already knew the answer to because she'd told him, time and time again.

"Forever."

They smiled, and then all at once, the Doctor longed for her. His features softened.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Rose touched his arm.

He watched her for a moment, lost in her eyes and the way the light from the setting sun illuminated her features just right, and then realized she'd asked a question. "Nothing," he said softly.

He loved her so much. Why fight the inevitable anymore? He'd held up his one reason as a defense, but it hardly seemed to matter anymore, not with the direction their relationship had been heading. That wire they'd been walking grew thinner and thinner by the day.

He walked to a nearby rock with a flat top, perfect for them to sit on, tugging her hand for her to follow him.

"Can I, erm, speak with you about something?"

"Of course, Doctor. You can talk to me about anything." She squeezed his hand, brows furrowed slightly.

"Does it bother you that we've never had, erm, intimate relations?"

She blinked. "You—you've never asked for it. I know you have feelings for me, even though you've never really talked about them. I mean, you have a little, here and there. But you're more apt to show your feelings rather than talk about them. And I love it, believe me." She smiled. "I just assumed since we've never had— _that_ , I mean, ' _intimate relations_ ,'" she said poshly and bit back a giggle at his formality, "that it wasn't a Time Lord thing."

"Are you laughing at me?" He lightly smiled.

" _Intimate relations._ Such a _dignified_ phrase for such an _undignified_ activity," she emphasized with seriousness. "You're such an alien," she giggled.

"I wanted to be polite."

" _Sex_ , Doctor. We've never had sex. I'm not afraid to say it, and I'm not saying I've never wanted to—with you, I mean."

He blushed.

Her eyes widened slightly. "Doctor, have you not known that? Is that why we've never—"

"No," he cut her off. He'd certainly picked up on her arousal on previous occasions, and even allowed himself to return it in kind with increasing frequency. He took her hand and kissed her fingers. "You're right, Time Lords don't have a need for sex. We're a sterile race. Well, we're—I'm—certainly… _capable_ of physical intimacy, anatomically speaking. And not that I've never wanted to…well, you know…with you."

It was her turn to blush. She bit her lip.

The sight of her biting her lip always drove him mad.

He continued. "Procreation happens via loom. Big curse thing. Story for another time. Anyway, it became evolutionarily obsolete. So, if a Time Lord engaged in intimacy at all, being that it certainly wasn't a part of Citadel culture, it happened in…other ways."

She raised an eyebrow. "What ways would those be?"

He looked out at the ocean, his hearts racing. Would she be open to this? "The mind. We're touch-telepaths, you know."

"You mean you have telepathic sex?"

"In a sense, yes."

"That's kinky," she giggled. She got the sense that maybe in this conversation, he was implying something, that maybe he was ready to acknowledge that they were on the edge of a precipice. It would be a big step, but not an unexpected one.

She inwardly sighed out of relief. She'd been ready for this for a long time, but knew that he wasn't, for whatever reason. And she wouldn't pressure him to be so until he felt he was ready. Maybe he hadn't been sure how to ask her. "Doctor, why haven't you asked me before now?"

He still gazed out at the ocean. "Rose, Time Lords are a telepathic race. It's been a long time since anyone else was in my head. When I destroyed my people, I was left alone."

"So…you've…been punishing yourself?" Her voice caught.

He met her eyes.

A tear trailed down her cheek. "You're still lonely. I see it in your eyes sometimes."

He looked away again, blinking back tears of his own.

She shifted closer to him. She reached across his chest to cup his jaw and pulled his face back to her. She rested her forehead on his cheek. He closed his eyes and she felt him lean into her touch.

"Doctor, I know you. You wouldn't have done what you did unless you absolutely had no choice. Whatever you did that was so awful, you did it for good reason. And if you hadn't done it, the rest of the universe might not even be here." She looked up at his closed eyes. "You don't have to feel alone anymore, Doctor. I'm here."

He opened his eyes to meet hers. "Rose, I would never ask you to relieve any of my burden. It's mine to bear."

"I know you wouldn't. I'm offering. You don't have to feel alone, not anymore, not if you don't want to."

"Rose…" he was speechless.

Her words played in his mind again. _You've never really talked about them_ , he repeated to himself. His feelings. He'd almost used that human word on more than one occasion with her. A long time ago, he'd stopped himself because confronting his feelings meant confronting the fact that he'd lose her someday, but he no longer cared for that excuse.

When he'd plunged into the depths of Satan's pit, he'd almost told Ida to pass that word along to Rose, if she chanced to speak with her. But it wouldn't have been right to tell her then, through a proxy, so he didn't continue the statement.

But what she said, that she sensed he had feelings—she didn't _know_ , as close as they were at this point in their relationship. And, bless her, she had never demanded it from him. He was glad he thought of this. He needed her to know. He suddenly felt all the tenderness within him swell for her.

He brushed her hair behind her ear. "Have you not understood what I feel for you this whole time?"

She searched his eyes. "I know you—" She took a deep breath, aware of the delicacy of this moment. "You love me. You don't say it for whatever reason, but I know you do."

"I once had a companion who told me not to use the word 'love' lightly. She told me not to say it unless I really mean it. She said it was too precious to be squandered. She was right."

He took a deep breath, and then turned his body directly towards her. "But with you, Rose, I don't talk about my feelings because—Rose, I don't have words to describe how deeply I feel for you. I could say the word 'love' and you'd understand it on a surface level, but what I feel for you, that single word doesn't even begin to encapsulate it. When I say it, I want you to understand exactly what I mean. I want to tell you in my own way. Show you, rather." And then he was suddenly soft. "May I, Rose?"

She was breathless at the vulnerability in his voice. Her heart pounded out of her chest. Was this really happening, after all this time of waiting and hoping and longing for him? All she could do was give a slight nod, and he stood.

"Come with me," he invited, and held out his hand.

She took his hand and he laced his fingers through hers.

He led her back towards the TARDIS. They only stopped for a moment to shed their coats and leave them on the coral strut near the door. They continued down the corridor.

They were silent, each feeling the build of nervousness and anticipation.

Rose reached to turn her doorknob as they neared her room.

"Not there," he said, tugging her hand as he continued walking.

"Where?"

He stopped a few paces down in front of a different door.

"Here." He slowly opened the door to reveal a room Rose hadn't seen before.

It was a modest room, with dark teal on the walls. A large bed sat in the middle, with a teal duvet and a wooden frame stained in walnut. Recessed lights gave the room a warm glow. Doors leading to the wardrobe and en suite were also in the same walnut finish.

"Your room?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." He gently smiled back at her and squeezed her hand, stroking his thumb across hers.

She smiled back at him, maintaining an air of calm, but her insides were tumbling.

The Doctor realized they had been gazing at each other in the doorway for longer than was necessary, so he cleared his throat and placed his hand in the small of her back to lead her in. He closed the door behind them.

Rose shivered at his touch.

He took her hand again and led her to the bed. They sat on the edge.

He spoke softly and worked on removing his trainers and socks. "The telepathic process is simple. I'll make contact. Your mind will look like a series of corridors. Do you remember your dream from the TARDIS from a while back?"

She nodded and removed her own trainers and socks and earrings.

"If there's anything you don't want me to see, close it behind a door."

She nodded again, and then bit her lip. "Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose?" he asked, softly, meeting her eyes.

"Sit back." She motioned towards his headboard.

He was frozen for a moment, and then blinked and nodded. He shifted, adjusting a pillow to support his lower back.

Rose straddled his thighs, careful not to get too close to sensitive territory. "Thought it might be a bit more comfortable than the edge."

"Yep," was all he said. He worried his thumbs in his fists on either side of her on the duvet. His eyes searched her face.

He was nervous. Uncharacteristic for a man with never-ending bravado.

Rose smiled so gently. "Come here," she said. She tugged the lapels of his suit jacket and met his lips.

He was rigid at first, but as she pulled his chest flush with hers and wrapped her arms around his neck, he melted into her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her all the way to himself. He gently leaned against the headboard again and pulled her with him. They were familiar with this, and he felt some of his nervousness dissipate.

"Did that help?" she pulled back slightly.

"Yeah." He smiled against her lips and kissed her again. He reached up a hand to thread his fingers through her hair.

She let her hands wander to his chest, to the buttons on his jacket, and traced one with her finger for a moment before threading it through the buttonhole, and then the other. She reached under his jacket to rest her hands on his shoulders.

He sat up and pulled back from her lips so she could slide his jacket down his arms.

She gently dropped it on the floor next to the bed and then ran her fingers down his silk tie, her fingers tingling at the sensation of the fabric.

He watched her with loving eyes. "Here," he said, and he loosened his tie for her. He leaned back slightly on his hands and waited for her.

She slowly pulled on the knot of his tie until it unthreaded itself from his collar and she deposited it with the jacket. She hadn't looked at him yet. She was afraid she'd lose herself with just one lingering gaze in his deep brown eyes. She could feel blood rushing to her core, and could feel beneath her that he felt the same.

"Rose," he said, softly. He sat up again and held her with one arm. He lifted her chin so she would look at him.

Her breath caught when she saw the depth of feeling in his eyes. She could feel tears filling her own. She cupped his face and met his lips again.

She unbuttoned his Oxford, starting with the button closest to his neck and worked her way down slowly.

He threaded his fingers through her hair, and this time he gently left her lips to kiss her neck, lightly sucking on her pulse point.

She tilted her neck to allow him more access and lightly moaned at the sensation, momentarily forgetting the task of unbuttoning his Oxford. She gripped his shoulders.

He smiled against her skin and reached behind her to unbutton his cuffs. "Ha," he said, amused at his ability to multitask in such a moment.

She pulled back to look at him with a curious smile. "What are you ha-ing for?"

"I unbuttoned my cuffs for you, while I was kissing you, and you were quite clearly enjoying it." He grinned and showed her his handiwork.

She threw back her head in laughter, feeling a bit of relief from the tension, putting her hand on his chest. "Wouldn't be you if you didn't brag about your superior Time Lord lovemaking skills."

"Ha!" he crowed again. "You know what else?"

"What's that?" She patted his chest.

His arm found her waist again, and he reached out an arm behind her to support himself, and he leaned forward until she was prone on the bed. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear, "I'm about to make love with Rose Tyler." He nipped at her earlobe.

She giggled and wrapped an arm around his back and threaded her fingers through his hair as he continued his work.

"Shirt," he said between kisses.

He propped himself above her as she tugged his Oxford out of his trousers and finished the last buttons. He sat up so he could remove it and simply tossed it into the growing pile.

He looked down at her before him. She was gorgeous, with her hair around her like a halo, biting her lip like that. She hadn't said much to this point. She wouldn't, of course, because he was brilliant and had a keen sense of what would make her lose herself in fantastic sensations. All the same, he wanted to know what was thinking. He flopped down next to her, leaning on his elbow, throwing a leg over hers.

"What's on your mind?"

She tilted her head to the side. "You're so…playful." She smiled. "I love it."

"You, Rose Tyler," he paused, taking her hand and kissing the sensitive part of her wrist, "make me so happy."

She closed her eyes. Every touch of his was so tender, felt so good.

He kissed her wrist again, noting the effect it had on her. He wanted to find all the ways to make her body sing.

She opened her eyes again.

He laced his fingers through hers and stroked her thumb. "What do you want right now?" he asked.

"I want…" She dropped his hand, which found its way to her waist, and she reached up to cup his cheek. "I want you." She wrapped her arm around his neck and twined her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him down to meet her lips.

They hungrily, deeply explored each other's mouths.

He reached under her back, adjusting her so she was more on her side, clutching her to himself.

She threw her leg over his and she could feel him hard against her.

His hand on her waist moved to cup her bum and squeezed.

She gasped against his lips and arched into him. She tugged on his hair.

He groaned and buried his face in her neck.

She giggled. "Liked that, did you?"

"Your hands in my hair, it's always been a weakness of mine," he murmured against her skin.

"Duly noted."

"Is this alright for you, taking this slow?" He wanted to enjoy as much time with her as he could.

"Fine by me. Is it alright for you? You're feeling a bit ready, I can tell."

He lifted his head from her neck.

She was grinning with her tongue peeking out.

"Rose Tyler, I'll have you know that Time Lords have excellent physiological control over their—" He took in a sudden sharp breath and buried his face in her neck again.

"Ha!" She imitated him. She had reached down and palmed him where it mattered. "Superior Time Lord control, eh?"

"Not when you do that!" He lifted his head and smiled.

He leaned on his elbow and rested his hand on her waist. "You know what's wrong with this picture?"

"What?"

"Your shirt's still on."

"Seems like a problem that needs to be fixed."

"Fixing problems is my specialty. May I?" he asked.

She smiled. "You may." He was the perfect gentleman, wasn't he? A tender lover, just as she'd imagined.

He kept his eyes fixed on hers and he began to undo the buttons on her purple blouse, the one that was his favorite, the one she'd worn on New Earth, with only one hand. She knew his long fingers were good for something.

"Now you're just showing off," she giggled.

He smirked and waggled his brows. "Look who's bragging about my skills now."

Then she thought about other things his long fingers might be good for. She felt a renewed sense of warmth in her abdomen.

With each button undone, her blouse fell open more, exposing her skin. He leaned down and gently kissed a trail down her torso where fabric had been. As he went lower, he added some tongue.

Rose moaned again.

He chuckled against her skin. He was good at this, wasn't he?

He brushed the fabric of her shirt from her shoulders. "Sit up," he directed.

She removed her shirt and discarded it in the growing pile. She leaned back, placing a finger under his chin to pull him with her. "Lie down," she directed in return.

He rumbled in satisfaction and returned to her breasts. He rather enjoyed the sight of her black lacy bra. "I've not been able to tell you before now," he said, lowering his mouth to the patch of skin above her left breast, "but you have lovely breasts." He sucked on her skin and palmed her right breast.

Rose moaned and fisted her hands in the duvet on either side of him. She squirmed beneath him, rubbing her thighs together in search of friction. She lifted her head to watch him.

He saw her out of the corner of his eye and he smirked as he continued his work, switching sides.

He threaded his hand beneath her and singlehandedly undid the clasp of her bra. He knew she was still watching, and he was feeling quite bold, so he used his teeth to move one of her straps off her shoulder.

She laughed. "You—you are—"

"Funny? Sarcastic? Sexy?" He clicked his tongue and winked at her.

She laughed again.

He removed her bra with a free hand and threw it over his shoulder. He was just about to enjoy her bare breasts when he stopped. "Wait a minute." He furrowed his brows. "You never answered that. Rose Tyler, you never answered my question!"

She rolled her eyes, fighting to regain a small sense of composure. As if he needed his ego stroked at the moment. Rose would rather be stroking other things of his. Like those delicious pecs.

She pulled at the remaining hem of his t-shirt tucked into the back of his trousers. "I'll answer, but first, this needs to go."

"That's a fair negotiation if I've ever heard one." He sat up and pulled his white t-shirt over his head and tossed it aside.

When he looked down at her, he paused, allowing her eyes to take in his bare torso. It wasn't the first time he'd been shirtless. They'd been to the beach on multiple occasions.

But this was no beach trip, he knew.

She was quiet. She bit her lip, a thought running through that brilliant mind of hers.

He lay down next to her, resting on his elbow. "What's on your mind?" he asked. The question sparked an itch for telepathic contact. She was obviously more at ease than when they'd started and the mental contact would be much easier for her to enjoy from the start.

"Can you do something for me?"

"Name it."

"Can you…" She blushed and looked away.

He touched his nose to her cheek and asked softly, "Can I what, Rose?"

Goosebumps rose on her arms at the sensation of his breath on her skin. She looked up at him again and ran a finger lazily back and forth along his collarbone. "Can you put on your glasses?"

His face lit up and he hummed. He leaned over her to reach down to the floor for his jacket, and she giggled and patted his bum. He fished through the pocket in the lining. Finding his prize, he put them on and resumed his position next to her. "Better?"

Her eyes went wide as she took in the sight of him. She blushed and covered her face with her arm and curled on her side away from him. She made a sort of unintelligible noise.

His face fell. That hadn't been the reaction he'd expected. Had she not liked it? "What's wrong?" He rested a hand on the curve of her waist.

She peeked at him from behind her arm, buried her face in her hands, and made more unintelligible noises. She curled even tighter against herself.

"I can take them off if you'd like," he said, a bit deflated.

She jerked her head with wide eyes.

His hand was on the hinges of his frames, just about to remove them.

She bolted up and grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Don't you dare!" she shouted.

His eyes grew just as wide as hers. "What was all that about, then?"

Her face flashed unamused and she released her grip. "Are you really that daft, Doctor? You're serious right now?"

"Care to enlighten me?" he said, unamused himself.

Rose rolled her eyes again. She shifted towards him. She reached across his thighs to rest her hand on the duvet next to him. "I'm sorry. I was a bit…overwhelmed." Her eyes roved over his bare skin and chest hair before her.

The corner of his lips turned up slightly. "My manliness is too much?"

"Mm-hmm." She straddled his legs again.

He sat up to meet her, parting his legs a little to give himself some support. He rested his hands on her hips.

Amazing that both their trousers had lasted this long, he noted. He'd have to remedy that later.

She gripped his shoulders. "You are all of those things. You are funny. And, well, sarcastic isn't the word I'd use. More rude, but you already knew that."

"And?" he asked, a bit eager to hear the next part of her answer.

She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "See? So impatient. Rude."

"Rose!" he whinged. His arms moved to encircle her waist and he pulled her against him.

She giggled. "Let's start…" she threaded one hand through his hair, "here. Your hair. You have," she took a deep breath, "really, _really_ great hair. I want to ruffle it all the time, Doctor."

"Mmmm. You can ruffle my hair any time you like," he said, voice low.

"The specs, Doctor. And your brown eyes. Gives me chills."

"Are they multiplying?"

"It's electrifying!" She crinkled her nose and laughed.

She traced an eyebrow with her finger. "And you have the most expressive eyebrows. I love watching you speak. And speaking of you speaking, honestly, Doctor, I don't understand half the things you explain to me."

"But you're brilliant," he insisted. "You keep up just fine."

She placed a finger on his lips to shush him. "I'm not finished." She cupped his jaw, running her thumb through his sideburn. "Half the time I get lost in the sound of your voice. It's why I ask you to read to me so much. While I enjoy a good story, mostly I want to listen to you for hours. You know, you'd make a spectacular voice actor.

"Sometimes I ask so many questions because I," she paused, giggling, "I love it when you use big words, even if they go over my head most of the time. I may give you a hard time about this gob of yours, but I love that you're so…loquacious? Is that the right word?"

"Ha!" he grinned.

She smiled. "Oh, and how the corners of your eyes crinkle when you smile like that, and your dimples." She stroked a finger down his cheek and circled the one on the left side of his face.

Her gaze landed on his lips. "And I may roll my eyes at you, but I love it when you pout. You've got the most gorgeous bottom lip. Sometimes I just want to…"

"What?"

She attacked his lips, sucking voraciously on that bottom lip, nipped at it, which elicited a noise of satisfaction from the Doctor. She pulled away slightly, his lip still gently caught between her teeth, and then released him, admiring the brighter shade of red she found there.

He blinked. "Rose, you have my permission to also do that any time you'd like."

She let her hands rest lazily on his shoulders and smiled at him.

"Trapezius," he said.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You said you like when I use big words. Your hands are resting on my trapezius."

She giggled and slid her hands over the curve of his shoulders.

"Deltoids."

She placed her hands firmly on his chest.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Pectoralis major."

"I like your pectoralis majors. A lot."

She kissed his neck.

"Platysma," he said, tilting his head slightly, closing his eyes, "which serves as a sheath for the sternohyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles."

She enjoyed the vibration she felt on her lips as he spoke. She lightly tugged his hair to tilt his head back more and she moved to his Adam's apple. She could feel him swallow.

"Adam's apple. Yours is always so tempting," she offered when he didn't say anything. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"More like a minx."

"Don't even get me started on your tongue—"

Quick as a flash, he cupped her bum and squeezed like he had earlier.

She arched into him again and tilted her head back.

He brought his lips to her neck and murmured against her skin, "Your perfect gluteus maximus." He pulled back. "I would know. Spent months carving it."

"With those long, deft fingers of yours."

He hummed in acknowledgment.

"So, I think the evidence concludes that yes, you are quite sexy. I've thought so for a very long time. Even the you with big ears and blue eyes."

"Did you really?"

"Of course I did! Your gruffness was a huge turn-on. Doctor, did you make yourself pretty when you regenerated just for me?"

"Why do you think I was excited about the sideburns and the hair?"

"Oh! Your mole! I'd completely forgotten about it, never thought to look on all those beach trips. Let me see it!" Rose stood up on her knees and looked over his shoulders down his back.

He scrunched his nose. What a weird request. But he didn't mind when he noticed her breasts were so close to his face...and that was, yes, a mole of her own, right next to her left breast.

"I see it!" She sat on his lap again, big grin on her face.

He tried to stifle the grin on his. He wanted to enjoy that mole in a little bit.

"You know, aside from feeling mortified that maybe you wouldn't want me anymore, I thought you were quite clever trying to work out what happened to me. I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I would have explained it to you eventually. I wasn't expecting to go so soon."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away." She placed a hand on his chest.

"Not your fault, Rose. You had no idea what was going on. Now, are you ready for telepathy?"

"Are you sure this will be easy for me?"

"Yes. You have a connection to the TARDIS. She's a telepathic ship. Being that this will be a deeper connection than regular telepathic contact like you've seen me use on occasion, it would be a little more difficult if you didn't already have the neural pathways capable of it." He smiled up at the ceiling. "Thank you, TARDIS."

The lights flickered.

"She'll be tuning out now. Just you and me, Rose." He stroked her hair. "Ready?"

She nodded.

He lifted a hand to his glasses. "Mind?"

She shook her head, and he tossed them off the bed.

He touched her temples and stepped onto the porch of her mind. He could see her golden light bleeding through the crack at the bottom of a door.

She felt a gentle nudge in her mind. "Is that you?"

 _'I'm here_. _Talk to me in here,'_ he said.

 _'Can you hear me?'_ she asked.

 _'That's it, Rose. You're a natural.'_

She felt him smile in her mind.

 _'Take a minute to establish your bearings. See the door in front of you?'_

 _'Yes.'_

 _'Open it when you're ready.'_

 _'This is weird, Doctor.'_ She tried taking a few steps forward, and then she spun in a few graceful circles.

 _'See? I knew you'd get the hang of this in no time.'_

She reached for the door and opened it.

She was aware of a darkness entering her mind. Not an evil darkness. More like a sadness, a heaviness. A hint of an oncoming storm, if she searched for it.

 _'Doctor, you're so dark.'_

 _'I'm going to transmit some images to you. That alright?'_

 _'Yes.'_

She felt him surround her, her light enfolded in his darkness.

She understood without any words from him. _You are my light._

She saw herself smiling, heard her laughter. She was holding a crimson rose. _You are my perfect rose._

She saw them dancing, the memory of them in India, waltzing around the console, and then again, long ago, in Jack's ship.

She understood. _You bring me to life._

She saw herself stepping out of the TARDIS, enveloped in golden light, eyes burning with the light of a thousand suns. She saw that light stretch out from herself and extend beyond the boundaries of their universe. She touched _all_ of time and space.

She understood. _You are my Goddess of Time. Even the universe itself cannot contain you._

She heard his voice, with a Northern accent, and her own.

 _There's another thing the Tardis could do. It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989. (Yeah, but you'd never do that.) No, but you could ask. Never even occurred to you, did it?_

 _I told you I'd come and get you. (I never doubted it.) I did._

She understood. _You believe in me when I cannot believe in myself._

She heard her present Doctor's voice. Another memory, one she didn't know herself.

 _If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed, and your mind with it. (But Rose—Rose is up there with your mind.) But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me. If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. The rocket—the rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole. I'd have to sacrifice Rose. (Wicked laughter from the Beast) So that's a trap. Both the test and the final judgment. But if I kill you, I kill her. Except that implies—in this big grand scheme of gods and devils—that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this Universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods. And out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing—just one thing—I believe in her._

She understood. _I believe in you when I cannot believe in myself._

She couldn't take anymore. She was overwhelmed with emotion. She pushed back into his consciousness and heard him gasp.

 _'Rose—'_

She enveloped him. Her blazing, brilliant vibrancy surrounded his dark essence.

He was overwhelmed at the strength of her presence, and for the first time in a long time, he no longer felt alone in the deepest parts of him.

 _'Doctor, you are not alone. I'm here.'_

He leaned her back onto the bed and crashed his lips with hers. The shock of it almost severed her connection with him, but he gently pulled her back in. She felt all of his tenderness towards her, tasted his tears mingled with her own.

 _'Stay with me,'_ he pleaded. ' _I love you.'_

She felt a surge of his passion, wild and roaring like an oncoming storm, and they lost themselves in each other completely, bodily, emotionally, and unashamedly.


	9. The Morning After, Part 2

The Doctor woke and found Rose with her head resting on his bare chest. They were in his room. Rose Tyler was naked beside him. And he was naked, too. _That's new_ , he thought. New was good. New was very, _very_ good.

He kissed her forehead and she lightly stirred.

"Morning," he rumbled.

She took a moment to get her bearings. "We're naked."

"Yep."

"That alright with you?"

"Oh, yes." He smiled.

She kissed his neck and lazily ran her fingers through his chest hair.

He hummed. The feel of her fingernails lightly scratching on his skin felt so good.

He sighed and thought for a moment about how far they had come. How different things were between them. A long time ago, Cassandra as Rose had kissed him. And he liked it. It had thrilled him when he hadn't known it was Cassandra. He wanted more.

Even after he found out it was Cassandra, it was still Rose's lips on his, and it was still her hands in his hair. He was angry with Cassandra, yes, but he enjoyed the feel of Rose.

And he didn't do anything about it. They never spoke of it, even after Cassandra told him that Rose liked him. He'd been a coward.

And now he was at the point of no return. He was completely, totally, madly, utterly, over the moon in love with this woman. He was different now.

He cleared his throat. "You know," he said, tentatively, "we should be naked more often. In my bed. If that's alright with you."

"Liked it, did you?" she lightly giggled.

"I did."

"That telepathic thing. The feel of you in my body and my mind, Doctor. That was the best sex I've ever had. I loved feeling so close to you."

His cheeks suddenly felt hot…and so did other parts of him. Parts that he no longer wanted to be hardly used. Parts that he no longer wanted to control.

Their eyes met.

"Can we—" she stopped. She was overwhelmed at the tenderness and desire and pleading she found there.

His hearts pounded out of his chest. He knew what he wanted her to ask, knew where he wanted this to go, wanted to feel her in his mind again. _Please,_ _Rose, please ask it of me…_

He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Can we do that again?"

He captured her lips in reply and his fingertips rested on her temples.

"I'm taking your shirt."

His eyes traced her curved form as she stooped to pick up his Oxford off the ground. He loved the way his shirt hung over her bum and the way her thighs peeked out from underneath and the way his sleeves looked rolled up over her forearms. She was gorgeous.

"Like what you see?" She grinned. She had caught him staring.

He blushed. "Yeah, I do, actually."

She sat on the edge of the bed next to him. She cupped his jaw and leaned in to kiss him.

He wrapped his arms around her, and one of his hands drifted south to cup her bum.

She giggled and smiled against his lips. "If you start that again, we'll never get out of here."

"I never want to leave," he said softly.

She pulled back to search his eyes for a moment and caught a hint of a tear.

"Stay with me for a little while longer."

She nodded.

She climbed over his legs and lay next to him as he shifted into a more prone position. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She laid her hand on his chest, which he took in his and kissed her palm. He rested his cheek on her hair.

He felt her breathing slow as she fell asleep. He lifted his head and gazed down her sleeping form, still clad in his Oxford. He knew they couldn't stay there forever. He wished he could carve a marble statue of them in this moment, immortalizing this image.

So he savored it. The feel of her hand in his, her body curled up next to him, the smell of her skin, the rhythm of her breathing.

He watched her sleep until she woke.

She stretched and sat up in the bed.

"I suppose we better get moving," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Where would you like to go next, Rose?"

"I was thinking we'd better go visit my mum. I haven't called her since the last time we visited. I have a lot of washing that needs done."

"Rose, you know the TARDIS can take care of your laundry, right?"

"Of course, but I think Mum likes doing my wash. Makes her feel like she's part of the adventure, like she can contribute something. Gives her a way to still be close to me."

"Fair enough." He nodded. "Perhaps we should bring her a gift?"

"Feeling the need to appease her after keeping me away so long?" she teased.

"Well…" He looked up at the ceiling. "You're not wrong." He smiled. "It's been quite a good morning." He rubbed his cheek absentmindedly. "I'm not really in the mood for the Jackie Tyler special."

"Did you have something in mind?"

"Not anything in particular, but I know a few markets we could visit with plenty of little trinkets."

"Sounds good to me. I'll go get ready, then." She straddled his legs and gave him a quick peck on the lips, and then left the room to jump in her shower.


	10. The First Word is Not Your Friend

Bazoolium in hand and washing gathered, Rose stepped out of the TARDIS doors onto the playground of the Powell Estate.

The Doctor followed her shortly thereafter. He'd put his hand in his coat pocket, but as they walked towards Bucknall House, he reached over to take her hand. It simply didn't feel right, walking next to her, without their hands linked together.

They made their way up the stairs, chatting lightly about everything and nothing at all, until they made it to Jackie's floor. Rose opened the door and stepped inside, the Doctor following.

Jackie was working in the kitchen, trying to prepare lunch, counting down the minutes until the next ghost shift. She'd really enjoyed having her father back in her life. It was nice, having someone to talk to, especially since she hadn't heard from Rose in quite some time. Two whole months! What were her daughter and that alien doing now, she wondered?

"Mum, it's us! We're back!" Rose called, and the Doctor closed the door behind her.

The moment she heard Rose's voice, Jackie ran out of the kitchen. She was delighted to see her daughter in the foyer. "Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use it!" she scolded, with a smile.

Rose grinned and held out her arms in invitation. "Shut up. Come here!"

Jackie launched into her arms and they made happy noises.

The Doctor tried to slip past them undetected. He was happy to see the Tyler women reunited, but he never knew what to expect from Jackie. Sometimes she was warm, sometimes she was cold.

Before he knew it, a hand grabbed hold of his jacket lapel and swung him around, and to his disgust, Jackie landed a few kisses on his lips. He protested to no avail.

Doctor unhanded, Jackie made her way back to Rose.

Rose shed her rucksack and passed it to her mother. "I've got loads of washing for you. And I got you this." She proudly held up the object. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, erm," she paused, tapping the bridge of her nose to help her remember. She turned to the Doctor asked, "What's it called?"

"Bazoolium," he piped in, and then returned to leafing through various magazines on the dining table.

She turned back to Jackie, who waited patiently for Rose to finish. "Bazoolium. When it's cold, yeah, it means it's gonna rain. When it's hot, it's gonna be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather."

"I've got a surprise for you and all," Jackie replied.

Rose nonchalantly tapped the weather trinket against her hand. "Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks." Figures that her mum wouldn't be fazed by it.

Jackie eagerly continued. "Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. He'll be here at ten past. Who do you think it is?"

"I don't know," Rose replied.

"Oh, go on, guess."

"No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."

"It's your grandad, Grandad Prentice."

"He's on his way any minute. Right. Cup of tea." She rushed back to the kitchen.

"She's gone mad," Rose said, hearing the approaching footsteps of the Doctor behind her.

"Tell me something new," he replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Grandad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died, like, ten years ago."

The Doctor's face turned from curious to concerned. This was not Jackie Tyler's brand of madness. Somebody mucking about with timelines? Ghosts that aren't really ghosts? Could be any number of things.

"Oh my god, she's lost it." Rose walked into the kitchen ahead of him, and he cautiously leaned on the doorframe behind her.

"Mum?" She worried the Bazoolium in her hands. "What you just said about Granddad…"

Jackie turned away from the counter. "Any second now," she insisted.

"But he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?"

Jackie nodded. "Of course I do."

Oh, this was not good.

"Then how can he come back?" Rose asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" She lifted her watch to check the time. "Ten past. Here he comes." She turned towards the wall.

A translucent, gray figure walked through the wall of the kitchen and stood next to Jackie.

This was really not good.

The Doctor stood next to Rose.

"Here we are, then. Dad, say hello to Rose. Hasn't she grown?" Jackie beamed at them and put her hands on her hips.

The figure never responded.

This was really, _really_ not good.

"Erm, Jackie, are you the only one that's been visited like this?" the Doctor inquired.

"No, they're all over. You can go out and have a look. Seems like everyone's got one."

The Doctor turned tail and ran with Rose following. They headed down the steps and out to the middle of the estate. "They're everywhere," he observed.

Children played, people milled around, but none of them were terrified.

Rose pointed and yelled, "Doctor, look out!"

He turned just in time to see the figure walking towards him before it passed through his body. The feeling wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasant, either.

Jackie finally joined them. "You haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade."

"What do you mean, 'shift'? Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?" he demanded, a bit perturbed.

"Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?" Jackie said, a bit smug.

"No one's running or screaming or freaking out," he posed, ignoring her statement.

"Why should we?" Jackie looked at her watch again. "Here we go. Twelve minutes past." She smiled.

The Doctor looked around suspiciously, and they all headed back to the flat.

Once inside, the Doctor turned on the telly. News, talk shows, adverts, and daytime soaps all featured the ghost phenomenon. He rubbed his eyes at the absurdity of it all. "It's all over the world." He muted the telly and turned to Jackie. "When did it start?"

"Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down—"

He didn't have time for this. "No, I mean worldwide."

"Oh! That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning and there they all were. Ghosts everywhere. We all ran around screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank you very much."

Two months ago. That was when the Doctor and Rose had visited Jackie last, when they had the run-in with Elton and the Absorbaloff. Shortly after that, they'd visited the London Olympics, and the Doctor had his premonition about Rose...blimey, he'd been a bit preoccupied for a while, hadn't he? He and Rose shared the briefest of glances.

"Then it sort of sank in," Jackie continued, and she looked up at Rose. "Took us time to realize that we're lucky."

"What makes you think it's Granddad?" Rose asked.

"It just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"

"I wish I could, Mum, but I can't," Rose answered gently. She hated letting her mother down.

"Well, you've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart."

"And the more you want it, the stronger it gets?" the Doctor asked.

"Sort of, yeah."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Like a psychic link. 'Course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in."

"You're spoiling it," Jackie said, not making an effort to hide her hurt.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell. There's no cigarettes. Just a memory." He didn't want to hurt Jackie, but she needed to know the truth.

"But if they're not ghosts, what are they, then?" Rose asked.

The Doctor looked away in thought.

"Yeah, but they're human," Jackie argued. "You can see them. They look human."

"She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people," Rose offered.

"Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world, but a footprint doesn't look like a boot." He sprang up and headed out the door for the TARDIS.

What he didn't tell them was that he thought they were pressing in from another universe onto the surface of the world, like the parallel one they'd been in. This was definitely not good. He needed to test his theory.

Jackie stared off into space. "I can't believe him. I've been talking to my father for almost two whole months, and he doesn't show up to stop any of this."

Rose touched her arm. "I'm sorry, Mum, but he means well."

"I wanted something special for myself, like you, and now I don't have anything." She swiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm going to make some tea. Cuppa?"

Rose nodded. "Ta." She watched her mother walk to the kitchen and followed her slowly. She felt terrible for doing this to her.

She glanced at the paper on the table. She read the headline: _Ghost elected as MP for Leeds_. "Mum, scratch that tea. We need to head to the TARDIS, find out what the Doctor's planning to do."

"Let me turn off the kettle," Jackie called from the stove.

Rose smiled. "You might just get your adventure yet."

"Yeah, yeah," Jackie waved her off as she stepped into the living room. "I don't need all this running around, you know. It's dangerous. I still worry about you."

"We're fine, Mum. I'm fine. Nothing's happened to me yet. The Doctor's always kept me safe." She grabbed the paper when her mother joined her, and they headed down to the park. She saw a few copper-colored cones on the grass.

When she entered the TARDIS, she could see one of the panels of grating had been pulled up and the Doctor working beneath the console. "According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. Now, don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing." She tossed the paper onto the console.

He hopped up out of grating, holding some sort of device and a pack on his back. "Who you gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters!" she shouted and laughed.

He kicked his feet in a dance. "I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts," he imitated the theme song, and walked towards the doors.

Once outside, the Doctor set a third cone on the ground and eyed its position in relation to the others. He moved with urgency. "When's the next shift?"

"Quarter to," Jackie replied. "But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?"

"Triangulates their point of origin," he replied. He picked up the cone again and attached some wires to it.

"I don't suppose it's the Gelth," Rose offered.

"Nah, they were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper." He scurried around the cones, checking to see if they were in the alignment of a perfect isosceles triangle, and attached more wires.

Jackie grew more annoyed with him by the minute. "You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it just be real? But just think of it, though. All the people we've lost, our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?"

Rose knew that was a sore spot for him. She worried their discussion might become a bit more forceful. Jackie didn't understand that the Doctor was a scientist at heart, and he wasn't bound by 21st Century Earth ideals.

He paused from his work. "I think it's horrific."

Jackie was taken aback. How could someone be so cold?

"Rose, give us a hand!" He picked up the coil of wire and started unwinding it as he ran into the TARDIS, and Rose followed him. She felt bad for her mother, wished she could help her mum understand, but she and the Doctor had a job to do.

Jackie was even more annoyed. Why wasn't Rose agreeing with her? She knew that Rose and the Doctor had a relationship, and Rose would be more likely to take up his side, but she felt a little slighted. She followed the two into the TARDIS and closed the door behind her.

How much had the Doctor rubbed off on her daughter? What had he been teaching her all this time? Would Rose eventually become just as cold as him? She stood by the doors and watched the pair.

The Doctor rushed about the console, plugging the end of the wire into a jack. He pointed at the monitor and Rose watched intently. "Soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop," he pulled out that device he uses occasionally, "hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop."

Jackie didn't understand a word he just said, but Rose did, apparently.

"15B, eight seconds," she repeated, taking the sonic from him.

"If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left." He pointed across the console.

"Hang on a minute, I know." She pointed to some button or other and looked at the Doctor for confirmation. "It's that one?"

"Mmm, close," he replied.

Rose selected another button. "That one?"

"Mmm, now you've just killed us." He smiled.

Rose giggled.

Oh, sure, the end of the world might be coming, but they had time to flirt.

Rose took a minute to think this time. "Er, that one?"

"Yeah!" he shouted in triumph. He turned to Jackie. "Now, how long have we got, two minutes to go?"

So he had known she was there. How nice of him to finally acknowledge her.

She looked at her watch. "Yeah."

"Thanks!" He ran past her out the doors to tend to the contraption he'd set up in the grass.

Jackie approached her daughter and watched her.

"What's the line doing?" the Doctor called from outside.

"It's alright. It's holding!" Rose shouted.

"You even look like him," Jackie said.

"How do you mean?" Rose asked. "I suppose I do, yeah."

Jackie heard the smile in her voice, but she wasn't amused. "You've changed so much."

"For the better," Rose replied, a bit testy.

"I suppose," Jackie mirrored her words.

Rose wheeled around. "Mum, I used to work in a shop."

 _As if that makes someone's life less meaningful,_ Jackie thought. "I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?"

Rose turned to watch the monitor. "No, I didn't mean that," she said softly.

"I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?"

Rose looked a little hurt. "Don't talk like that."

Her daughter was just swanning around the universe, not giving any thought to those left behind anymore. Just like the Doctor. She was happy with him, Jackie understood, but she also knows how many days she crosses off on calendars before she gets a call or visit. "No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?"

"I don't know," she replied.

Rose hadn't given any thought to this at all. She was only 20. She'd seen so much, grown so much, but she was still so young. She'd been disillusioned by her life with the Doctor.

"Do you think you'll ever settle down?"

"The Doctor never will, so I can't." She looked at her mum. "I'll just keep on traveling."

If anybody knew that life wasn't all sunshine and starbursts, it was Jackie. She hadn't counted on Pete dying so young, but it'd happened without warning. She was just like Rose when she was younger, all naive, thinking that life would be happy forever. Sure, she and Pete didn't get along, and they'd been going through a rough patch when he passed, but she loved him.

She had a feeling Rose was going to learn the hard way that things wouldn't stay perfect forever like she wanted. Not that she wished for anything to happen, but she would be there for her daughter when it did. Rose would be crushed. She'd have to learn how to pick up a normal life again.

Jackie could see how her travels had affected her. She'd agreed with what Jackie saw as the Doctor's bleak outlook on life, or, at the least, hadn't disagreed with him.

"And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years' time, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."

"Here we go!" the Doctor interrupted.

Rose wouldn't listen anymore, his voice having her full attention, so Jackie gave up.

"Scanner's working! It says Delta one six!"

Jackie sighed. She walked to a ledge near the door and climbed up a step ladder to sit on it.

Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor watched his contraption with anticipation. "Come on then, you beauty!" he crowed and moved his feet excitedly.

The cones crackled with electricity as a ghost materialized.

He slid on his 3D glasses to see if his parallel universe theory was correct. If so, the ghost would be surrounded by Void particles. And...it was. This was really, _really_ not good. That meant there was another gap in between universes, and he'd have to close it.

He messed with a few settings on the electric current controller. Time to poke the ghost.

The ghost moved about in discomfort.

He chuckled. "Look at that! Don't like that much, do you?" He clenched his teeth. "Who are you? Where are you coming from?"

The ghost thrashed out at him.

"Whoa! That's more like it. Not so friendly now, are you?"

The ghost dissipated.

He set about collecting the cones and ran back into the TARDIS. He stored the equipment underneath the grating near the console and threw his coat over the coral strut near the door. "I said so. Those ghosts are being forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. _Allons-y_!" The Doctor threw a lever, and the TARDIS lurched. He and Rose fell back onto the jump seat.

Once the TARDIS was stable, he bounded around the console, pressing buttons and turning dials. He grinned like a maniac. "I like that. 'Allons-y _._ ' I should say 'allons-y' more often. Allons-y _._ 'Look sharp, Rose Tyler. Allons-y.' And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say, 'Allons-y _,_ Alonso,' every time." He stopped in front of Rose. She hadn't said anything at all. "You're staring at me."

She motioned with her eyes to the side of the console room. "My mum's still on board," she whispered.

The Doctor looked up in horror to see Jackie sitting on a ledge near the door, complete with a scowl.

"If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna kill you," she threatened.

He believed it, too.

Jackie hopped down from the ledge and walked towards the console. "Where we going then?"

"Not sure," the Doctor replied. He flipped a switch to turn on the outside scanner once the TARDIS began to materialize.

The trio watched as armed soldiers assume their positions in front of the doors. A commanding officer barked out orders.

"Oh, well, there goes the advantage of surprise." He stood back with his arms crossed. "Still, cuts to the chase." He rubbed the back of his head. "Stay in here, look after Jackie." He didn't want Rose (or Jackie, for that matter) in the middle of any of that. Humans tended to be trigger happy.

Rose raised her hackles at that. She and the Doctor were a team. They were supposed to stick together. It was unusual for them to be separated on a mission, but this seemed to be a bit more high stakes than their usual fare. If the Doctor was going to put himself in a dangerous position, she wasn't about to let him do it alone. "I'm not looking after my mum."

"Well, you brought her."

"I was kidnapped!" Jackie objected.

 _Oh, we are_ not _doing this 'pet' discussion again,_ Rose thought. She ran around him and blocked the door. "Doctor, they've got guns."

He raised his eyebrows. Of course, she was being difficult. "And I haven't." He rested his hands on her waist and swung her away from the door.

Rose rolled her eyes. She hated when he made decisions for her. Hadn't they just dealt with this a few weeks ago? Hadn't she told him not to do this?

"Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine." He ignored the look of disappointment and worry on her face, knowing how much she hated when he did these sorts of things. He'd be able to fix that when this mess was sorted. For now, his priority was keeping her safe. And Jackie really would kill him if something happened to Rose. Not to mention how Rose would feel if something happened to Jackie. He didn't even want to venture down that path. Really, he told himself, he was acting in all of their best interests, and he would explain that to her later, after he'd sorted this all out.

He opened the doors and stepped outside to the sound of cocking guns. He left the door slightly ajar, enough for the women inside to listen, hoping to appease Rose at least a little. He raised his hands in the air, a gesture of good faith.

To his surprise, a blond woman in a tailored black skirt suit appeared and applauded. "Oh! Oh, how marvelous!"

The soldiers lowered their guns and clapped as well.

The Doctor lowered his hands, and said, hesitantly, "Erm, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor."

"Oh, I should say. Hooray!" She clapped again.

The soldiers behind her stood and also clapped.

He nervously chuckled and looked around at them. "You've heard of me, then."

"Well, of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the TARDIS!" She lifted her hands in astonishment at the machine and applauded again.

The Doctor chuckled again and motioned for them to stop. "And...and...and you are?"

"Oh, plenty of time for that," she smiled. "But according to the records, you're not one for traveling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's the pattern, isn't it, right?"

He stared at the woman, left brow raised, trying to decide whether he could trust her or not.

"There's no point in hiding anything, not from us. So where is she?"

He didn't really have a choice, did he?

Should he reveal Rose? No, they'd probably seize the TARDIS, and that would leave Jackie vulnerable to their mercy, whoever they were. Rose was brilliant. She could hold her own, and she could investigate by herself. Jackie it is, then. Rose would have insisted on it anyway.

All at once, he flashed a smile. Play the fool for now. Earn their trust. Ask questions later. "Yes! Sorry, good point." He reached into the TARDIS behind him and felt a face. They'd been eavesdropping, just as he suspected, and that face definitely didn't belong to Rose. "She's just a bit shy, that's all." He tugged on Jackie's arm and closed the door. "But here she is, Rose Tyler!"

He prayed to Rassilon that she would trust him enough not to blow their cover. Even if she did, he'd recover. So he tested her. "Hmm, she's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blond. Not too steady on her pins. Lot of that." He opened and closed his fingers to indicate too much talking. "And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years, but she'll do."

Jackie looked at him incredulously. "I'm forty!"

"Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea." He scrunched up his nose. "Well, I say very good. I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad." He grinned. "Anyway, lead on! Allons-y!"

The woman turned and directed the soldiers away.

"But not too fast," the Doctor continued. "Her ankle's going." He followed the woman.

"I'll show you where my ankle's going," Jackie spat behind him.

He sighed in relief, quite impressed that Jackie had played along with his ruse. As much as he disliked being around her, and wasn't even a dislike so much as it was that she'd practically become his mother-in-law, it was evident from where Rose had received her wits. Pete and Jackie Tyler had very good genes.

Just inside the TARDIS doors, Rose heard everyone leaving, so she ran to the monitor. She knew the Doctor was up to something. He pulled Jackie out on purpose, probably to protect her, and because he needed Rose to do some investigating on her own. That sort of made up for earlier, she supposed, his actions reminding her that he very much trusted her.

The Doctor and Jackie followed the woman down a corridor.

"It was only a matter of time until you found us," she said, "and at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor." She opened a set of double doors. "Welcome to Torchwood."

The Doctor looked around at the warehouse space, large enough to house a good-sized spacecraft, among other things. "That's a Jathaa Sunglider." His gut churned. This was just like landing in Henry van Statten's museum all over again.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago."

"What, did it crash?"

"No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace, then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us."

He looked at the woman, brows furrowed in disgust.

Jackie's expression read mortified. Even she knew this was wrong. This was worse than van Statten. Henry had no idea what he was doing, but Torchwood did.

"The Torchwood Institute has a motto. 'If it's alien, it's ours,'" she said. "Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it, for the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked.

"The British Empire."

Oh, way worse than van Statten. The _government_ was endorsing this?

"There isn't a British Empire," Jackie objected.

"Not yet," the woman answered smugly.

A soldier brought over a sort of gun.

The Doctor knew exactly what it was. He wouldn't be able to play the fool for long if this kept up.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, do you recognize this, Doctor?" She took the gun in hand.

"That's a particle gun."

"Good, isn't it? Took us eight years to get it to work."

"It's the 21st Century. You can't have particle guns." His voice was measured.

"We must defend our border against the alien." She handed the gun back to the soldier. "Thank you, Sebastian, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Thank you, Sebastian." She smiled at the Doctor and Jackie. "I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organization. People skills, that's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person."

Jackie rolled her eyes.

"Have you got anyone called Alonso?" the Doctor asked. Anything to relieve a bit of the growing tension inside. Rose would've appreciated the question, if only she were with him.

Had Torchwood taken the TARDIS yet, he wondered? How was she getting on? Had she found anything? He missed her. The sooner he could sort these people, the sooner they could swan off in the TARDIS again, and they could drop Jackie at the flat, and...he really wanted to be able to make this up to Rose. Yeah, thinking about Rose right now was good. Anything to give him incentive to get out of this place sooner. Anything to distract him from his growing anger. After all, he couldn't blow up on them yet. He still needed to get information out of them about Torchwood, this woman, how they were involved with the ghosts that weren't really ghosts.

The woman knit her brows in confusion. "I don't think so. Is that important?"

"I suppose not. What was your name?"

"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman."

He nodded. She trusted him at least a little, then. He walked over to an open crate to examine its contents. He picked up a gear-shaped object with a handle. Looked massive, but it was light as a feather.

"Ah, yes," Yvonne acknowledged. "Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial tonne, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."

The Doctor tossed it back into the crate and brushed his hands together to wipe away the metaphorical filth. He stalked off to examine more of their confiscated technology.

"I could do with that to carry the shopping," Jackie added.

"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's," Yvonne said, condescendingly.

Jackie scrunched her nose. How rude! She may not be posh, but she wasn't stupid, and she certainly didn't appreciate the patronizing.

She began to see the Doctor in a different light. She was still annoyed with him, of course, but he wasn't as cold as she'd pegged him earlier. They may give each other a hard time, but he was never outrightly disrespectful. At least he had a moral code, even if it didn't match hers, point-for-point.

She'd encountered a few monsters in her time with him. The Autons, Slitheen, the Sycorax, the Waterhive, every strange creature that Rose had described on her adventures. None of them compared to this organization, though. These people were the real monsters.

"So what about these ghosts?" the Doctor finally asked.

"Ah, yes, the ghosts. They're what you might call a side effect."

"Of what?" He still wore the look of aloofness and cooperation.

"All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me."

His gut turned again. He was owned by nobody, least of all this organization of scavengers. If they thought they could control him, they had another think coming.

Well, owned by nobody, except Rose.

Right on cue, a transporter rolled in with the TARDIS on the bed.

"Oi! Where are you taking that?" Jackie demanded.

He watched it like a hawk for a sign of Rose. The TARDIS assured him she was safe.

"If it's alien, it's ours," Yvonne repeated, noting his gaze on the ship.

Bad move. "You'll never get inside it."

Yvonne smirked. "Et cetera."

Apparently she'd heard that before. What had Torchwood done with other occupants of other ships? If they had shot down the Jathaa sunglider, what happened to the Jathaans? He shuddered.

He glanced at the TARDIS again, hoping to make some sort of contact with Rose.

The doors opened slightly and she peered out at him.

The Doctor nodded to her, telling her to be safe, but to do what she knew to do.

Rose noticed the tightness of his lips and his furrowed brows. He was angry about something. She managed to take a peek at the other contents of the warehouse, what she reckoned by the Doctor's countenance was alien technology they weren't supposed to have. Whomever these people were, they must have been misusing it. And since he'd already been in the warehouse, she needed to investigate elsewhere. She began to formulate plan.

The Doctor and Jackie followed Yvonne through the same set of double doors they'd walked through earlier and down another corridor.

"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you," he said, a hint of a question in his voice.

"Well, of course not," Yvonne replied. "You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the crown."

"1879? That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland."

"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."

"I think he makes half of it up," Jackie interjected.

The Doctor tugged on his ear. Apparently, Rose hadn't shared with her about that encounter. He felt a twinge of guilt.

He'd sensed a brewing conflict between the two women in the park, and he felt he was part of the reason for it. It was about more than just a disagreement a with Jackie about sentimentality over loved ones who've died.

Rose was generally mindful about keeping up with Jackie, but he also knew he'd selfishly kept her all to himself for the last two months. This was even after the Elton incident when Rose had expressed concern for Jackie's feelings about being left behind. He'd completely tossed those thoughts out the window the moment he had that premonition at the Olympics.

Time was irrelevant when one traveled on the TARDIS, but it was not for Jackie. The Doctor knew how it felt to lose his mother, to know that he'd never be able to see her again. Jackie would age faster than Rose would notice, and he didn't want Rose to regret missing time with her.

He'd never considered those left behind when he traveled with someone, but his time with Rose, and Jackie's slap so long ago, had opened his eyes. Well, it was easy to forget those left behind when he'd done that so easily with his own people, left them and never looked back unless it was necessary. It wasn't so easy to do when one's people weren't available to leave behind anymore.

He wanted nothing more than to have this mess sorted so he could talk this over with Rose, maybe figure out a better way for them to keep in touch. Certainly wouldn't hurt his standing in Jackie's eyes, either.

Yvonne pulled him back to the conversation at hand. "Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great, and fighting the alien horde."

"But if I'm the enemy, does that mean I'm a prisoner?" he asked.

The group rounded a corner and approached a large, secure door.

"Oh, yes. But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us." Yvonne scanned her badge and the door opened. "Starting with this." She indicated they walk in the room.

 _I'd like to teach you how_ not _to murder aliens and steal their technology,_ the Doctor thought, but all disdain was quickly forgotten as he noticed the giant, bronze Sphere floating in the air. His gut twisted. A Void ship. No, this was definitely not good. So much for sorting this mess anytime soon.

"Now, what do you make of that?" Yvonne asked.

The Doctor stared at it.

Pieces of the puzzle started coming together.

It had broken through the Void, shattering the wall of the universe. It would explain why he and Rose and Mickey been pulled through the Void into the parallel world. And that means the ghosts were imposing themselves from the parallel dimension. He had a nagging suspicion who those beings might be if they were from the other universe.

He needed to repair the cracks in the walls of both universes, but how to do that? He'd have to investigate further. What was the connection between Torchwood and the ghosts? How was Torchwood controlling the appearance of the ghosts?

A man, somebody name Rajesh, tried to introduce himself, but all he heard was gibberish in the face of this monstrosity.

"Yeah," was all he said in response.

"What is that thing?" Jackie asked.

"We've got no idea," Yvonne replied.

"What's wrong with it?"

The Doctor drew a small amount of comfort from Jackie's questions. Rose asked questions like that.

All he wanted to do was run straight out of there with Rose and Jackie and get as far away as possible. Rose wouldn't let him, though. Not until this was all solved. She was good like that.

"What makes you think there's something wrong with it?" Rajesh asked.

"I don't know. It just feels weird."

The Doctor crossed to the platform and mounted the steps. He stopped underneath the Sphere and stared at it.

"The Sphere has that effect on everyone," Yvonne said. "Makes you want to run and hide. Like it's forbidden."

"We tried analyzing it using every device imaginable," Rajesh added. "But according to our instruments, the Sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn't age. No heat, no radiation, and has no atomic mass."

The Doctor slipped on his 3D glasses. Void particles. This was a nightmare.

"But I can see it," Jackie asked, thinking that she understood Rajesh.

"Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off nothing. It is absent," he explained.

Clearly, the Doctor noticed something they all hadn't, Yvonne deduced. He looked idiotic in those paper glasses, but he knew something. She'd seen his worried expression when he saw the Sphere a moment ago. "Well, Doctor?"

"This is a Void Ship," he said, flatly.

"And what is that?" she asked.

He turned and took off the glasses. "Well, it's impossible, for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space, traveling through the Void." The Doctor sat on the steps and folded his hands.

"And what's the Void?" Rajesh asked.

"The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between, containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end. My people called it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell."

Yvonne shivered.

Rajesh inquired further. "But someone built the Sphere. What for? Why go there?"

"To explore? To escape? You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the Universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation."

Yvonne shook off her premonition. She was too prideful for feelings like that. She'd eat her hat before she let something alien intimidate her. "You see? We were right. There is something inside it."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor cautioned.

Yvonne's smile dissipated.

"So how do we get in there?" Rajesh asked.

"We don't," he said, emphatically. He stood and pointed at the ship. "We send that thing back into hell! How did it get here in the first place?"

Yvonne crossed her arms. "Well, that's how it all started. The Sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake."

"Show me," he demanded and stormed off.

Yvonne and the rest followed.

The Doctor turned left into the corridor. "No, Doctor," he heard. He rolled his eyes. Hard to be brooding and dramatic to make a point when one turns the wrong way. He stormed off in the other direction anyway.

Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, Rose started to formulate a plan. She needed a disguise. _If you're going to walk around anywhere, look like you belong._ That's what the Doctor would tell her. She wouldn't viably be able to get a badge...but who needed one when she had the Doctor's psychic paper? She picked up his coat from the coral strut and dug through his pockets. "Psychic paper, psychic paper," she muttered to herself. Could be anywhere in these transdimensional pockets.

She rummaged around various objects. She felt something metal, and round, with a chain attached to it...handcuffs? She pulled her hand out of the pocket.

Handcuffs...she had an idea in a flash. Something not entirely pure. She could use handcuffs later (a more comfortable pair, of course), after all this was over, when she could get the Doctor all to herself again.

But for now, she had a job to do. She needed the psychic paper. She dug a little deeper this time, and finally found the small, leather packet. She pulled it out and fiddled with it in her hands, but she couldn't stop thinking about the Doctor and handcuffs. She smiled and bit her lip.

The TARDIS stopped shifting, which brought her back to reality. She waited a few moments for any nearby soldiers to leave, and then she ventured to take a look outside. She was in a corner of the warehouse she had briefly seen earlier through the doors. Nobody was around, so she started in one direction. She stopped when she heard voices and backed up to the TARDIS. Deciding to try the other direction, she was pleasantly surprised to see a white lab coat on a nearby table. She quickly grabbed the coat and snuck behind the TARDIS again.

White coat on, she wandered around the warehouse. She saw a man in another white coat walking towards the double doors on the side of the warehouse. She checked to make sure nobody else was following her and exited the room.

"This is the Lever Room, Doctor," Yvonne motioned as they rounded the corner to enter the long space. "Rose, you can stay in my office. This information I'm about to share with the Doctor is classified." She exited her office towards the white wall.

Jackie rolled her eyes again.

The Doctor shrugged at Jackie in apology, eyes on the floor.

"Go on." Jackie waved him off.

The Doctor caught up with Yvonne.

"The Sphere came through here," she said, referring to the wall. "A hole in the world."

The Doctor reached out to touch the wall.

"Not active at the moment, but when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breach opens up."

No wonder they needed to get the particle guns working. He turned to Yvonne. "How did you even find it?"

"We were getting warning signs for years, a radar black spot. So we built this place, Torchwood Tower. The breach was six hundred feet above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it."

Years. The Doctor had been gone from Earth for so long, fighting the war. If only he had been here sooner, he might have been able to stop this. He slid on the 3D glasses again to see a wall covered in Void particles.

"You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?"

Yvonne smirked. "Enough." She turned and walked to her office.

Jackie heard the telltale _click click_ of Yvonne's heels as she pieced together their location in London. "Hold on a minute. We're in Canary Wharf. Must be. This building, it's Canary Wharf."

"Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood," Yvonne replied.

The Doctor's voice cut in, and she wheeled around to listen.

"So, you find the breach, probe it, the Sphere comes through six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, 'Oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?' Nah, you think, 'Let's make it bigger!'" he mocked. Humans were a marvelous race, but they could also be so stupid sometimes.

"It's a massive source of energy," Yvonne reasoned. "If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next ghost shift's in two minutes." She walked past the Doctor towards the computers.

"Cancel it," he demanded calmly.

"I don't think so."

"I'm warning you, cancel it," he demanded again, not so calmly.

She turned towards him. "Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of man."

"Let me show you." He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and walked behind the glass in her office. "Sphere comes through." He activated the sonic at an 'O' in TORCHWOOD, the resonance creating a spider crack that slowly expanded through the whole pane. "But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours, with the human race hoping and wishing and helping them along. But too many ghosts, and—" He lightly tapped the glass, which shattered out of the frame.

Yvonne wouldn't budge. "Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful." She directed her staff to continue. "Positions! Ghost shift in one minute."

The Doctor stormed out of her office. "Miss Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it."

She turned to face him. "We have done this a thousand times."

The Doctor threw his hands out, eyes wide, and he shouted, "Then stop at a thousand!"

"We're in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breach, but equally they can close it."

He stared at her intensely for a moment. He couldn't reason with her, so he'd have to bluff. His demeanor changed in an instant. "Okay," he said simply, and turned to grab a chair from her office.

"Sorry?" she asked, confused.

"Never mind. As you were."

"What, is that it?"

"No, fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me." He sat in the office chair and turned to one of the staff. "Any chance of a cup of tea?"

"Ghost shift in twenty seconds," Adeola announced.

"Mmm, can't wait to see it," the Doctor said, fury hiding behind the crazy eyes and smile of a madman.

"You can't stop us, Doctor," she challenged, trying a bluff of her own.

"No, absolutely not." He looked at Jackie. "Pull up a chair, Rose. Come and watch the fireworks."

Jackie placed her arm on his shoulder and glanced between the Doctor and Yvonne.

"Ghost Shift in ten seconds." Adeola continued the countdown.

Yvonne stared at the Doctor.

He waggled his eyebrows.

"Nine, eight, seven."

She felt her resolve crumble under the Doctor's stare.

"Six, five, four, three, two—"

She gave up. "Stop the shift. I said stop."

The Doctor's manic face melted in relief. "Thank you," he breathed.

"I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the program will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything."

"I'm glad to be of help."

"And someone clear up this glass. They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess." Yvonne walked into her office.

The Doctor swiveled in his chair to look at Jackie.

She looked at him. Jackie hardly ever got to see him work. She was actually quite impressed. Perhaps it wasn't entirely bad that Rose took after him.

Rose followed the mysterious man in the coat around a corner.

He glanced back at her and sped down the corridor.

Rose couldn't see his features, but he didn't seem to want to stop her, so she continued to follow him. She wouldn't give any hint that she wasn't supposed to be there. She couldn't risk the safety of her mother or the Doctor.

She ran when she saw him round another corner, but slowed when she heard a beep and a heavy door sliding open. She peeked around the corner as she caught the back of him walking into the room. The door closed. She approached the scanner and kissed the psychic paper for good luck. Clever her, it worked, and the door slid open again.

She cautiously walked into the large, cold room. All the metal on the walls left no room for a feeling of welcome. And something felt off the minute she walked in.

Her eyes roamed the room until they landed on the Sphere. A chill ran up her spine and she couldn't seem to look away.

"Can I help you?" Rajesh asked.

"I was just—" She pointed at the Sphere. She still couldn't take her eyes off of it.

"Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?"

"Sorry, um…" She tried to regain a sense of normalcy. "They sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner, some sort of Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?" She rubbed her cheek, hoping her act was convincing enough.

"Can I see your authorization?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, with some uncertainty. She handed the psychic paper to him.

He glanced at the paper. "Well, that's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank, and you're a fake." He touched his earpiece. "Seal the room. Call security."

Rose looked around for a way out as she heard the door locks activate. Her adrenaline kicked in.

Rajesh glanced behind him. "Samuel, can you check the door locks? She just walked right in."

The man at the controls turned around with a smile on his face. "Doing it now, sir."

Rose fought every instinct to react when she realized who it was.

Mickey gave her a thumbs up.

"Well, if you'd like to take a seat," Rajesh said.

Yvonne stared at diagrams of the Sphere on her computer. "So these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the Sphere?"

"Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a cannon ball," the Doctor replied.

She glanced at him. Specifically, his shoes, propped up on her desk. How could this man, this alien, strike fear in the heart of his enemies and be so childish at the same time?

Her computer beeped as she received a video call. It was from Rajesh. She touched her earpiece to accept the transmission.

"Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor. We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor."

The Doctor curled his lip. Rose'd been found out.

Yvonne turned her laptop so the Doctor could see. "She one of yours?"

Rose didn't react, waiting for the Doctor's cue.

He shook his head. "Never seen her before in my life."

Yvonne lightly smiled. "Good. Then we can have her shot." Her turn to bluff.

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Oh, all right then. It was worth a try." He nodded in her direction. "That's, that's Rose Tyler."

"Sorry. Hello." She waved at the Doctor. She looked around for Jackie.

The Doctor waved back.

"Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?" Yvonne asked, her eyes motioning to Jackie.

"I'm her mother," Jackie replied.

"Oh, you travel with her mother?" Yvonne raised her eyebrows.

"He kidnapped me," she protested.

His expression twisted in embarrassment. "Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I traveled through time and space with her mother."

Yvonne laughed, but stopped when she heard a _clunk_.

"Charming." He may have earned some of his graces back in her eyes, but Jackie could've slapped him right then.

"I've got a reputation to uphold," he whined.

The Doctor hadn't known what that _clunk_ was, but Yvonne did. She rose from her chair and poked her head out of her office. "Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift. Who started the program?"

None of the computer technicians responded. The levers started moving of their own accord.

"I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?"

No response.

Yvonne moved closer to the technicians. "Right, step away from the monitors, everyone."

The Doctor and Jackie stood in the office doorway. He noticed the technicians were the only employees who had two earpiece attachments. Now there was no doubt in his mind who was behind the ghosts.

Yvonne continued her efforts to no avail. "Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now. Matt, step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers!"

Two scientists attended to the levers, trying to pull them back to the off position, but couldn't overpower them.

The Doctor walked over to Adeola and snapped his fingers in her face."What's she doing?"

Yvonne rushed over to help. "Addy, step away from the desk. Listen to me. Step away from the desk."

"She can't hear you," he said, voice low with dread. He watched the commands fly on the screen. "They're overriding the system. We're going into ghost shift."

In the Sphere Lab, Rajesh's computer alerted him of another ghost shift. "Yvonne, I thought you said the next ghost shift was cancelled. What's going on? Yvonne?" He heard no reply.

They heard a loud _bang_ and the room shuddered.

Rajesh looked up at the Sphere. "It can't be." He moved out from behind his desk and ran to it.

Rose and Mickey followed.

"It's active!" he shouted.

The Sphere shuddered again.

The Doctor stood behind Adeola. "It's the earpiece. It's controlling them. I've seen this before." He pulled his sonic out of his pocket and paused. "Sorry. I'm so sorry." He activated the sonic, and the three technicians screamed and collapsed over their desks. They didn't move again.

Yvonne looked at the three. "What happened? What did you just do?"

"They're dead," the Doctor said and started working on the computer, trying to override the commands.

"You killed them," Jackie said.

"Oh, someone else did that long before I got here."

"But you killed them!" she shouted.

"Jackie, I haven't got time for this," he snapped.

"What are those ear pieces?" Yvonne asked, still shocked.

"Don't," he commanded.

"But they're standard comms devices. How does it control them?"

"Trust me, leave them alone." He touched Yvonne's shoulder as he dashed to another computer.

"But what are they?" She tugged on Adeola's earpiece and regretted it immediately as brain matter followed. "Oh, God! It goes inside their brain!" She almost vomited as she dropped it.

"What about the ghost shift?" He looked up from a computer at the growing white light.

"Ninety percent there and still running. Can't you stop it?" She watched him work over his shoulder.

His jaw clenched. "They're still controlling it. They've hijacked the system."

"Who's they?"

"It might be a remote transmitter but it's got to be close by." He pulled out his sonic and scanned the area for a signal. "I can trace it. Jackie, stay here!" he ordered and took off with Yvonne in tow.

"Keep those levers down. Keep them offline," Yvonne managed to get out before she left the room.

They missed the still-running video call from Rajesh. A thermal diagram of the Sphere glowed red and orange and yellow.

The wall began to ripple. Jackie squinted at the light, terrified.

Rajesh panicked. "We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me? Yvonne, for God's sake. The Sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field. It exists!"

The Sphere continued to shudder.

They heard a different _thud_.

"The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!" he called.

Mickey grabbed Rose's hand. "It's all right, babe. We've beaten them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on."

"The fight against what?" she asked.

"What do you think?" He squeezed her hand tighter to help balance them as the room shook.

The Doctor continued to follow the sonic down a corridor.

Yvonne stopped two passing soldiers. "You two. You come with us," she ordered, and they turned about face.

The Doctor stopped in the doorway of a room. Plastic hung from the ceiling. "What's down here?"

"I don't know. I think it's building work. It's just renovations," she replied, her voice low.

"You should go back," he cautioned.

"Think again," she countered.

He pulled back the plastic sheets and followed the sonic.

When the sonic indicated that he had arrived, he stopped and looked at the blue light.

"What is it? What's down here?"

"Earpieces, ear pods. This world's colliding with another, and I think I know which one."

He saw the outlines of familiar figures assume their positions behind the plastic. The metal _clank_ of their footsteps was haunting. Broad shoulders, cold faces, square headpieces. Images he'd seen in nightmares of past experiences.

"What are they?" Yvonne asked.

"They came through first. The advance guard."

The figures ran a hand down the plastic and stepped through the tears.

"Cybermen!"

The soldiers fired rounds from their guns, but the Doctor knew that would accomplish nothing.

"We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we," Mickey explained.

Rose stared. "The Doctor said that was impossible."

"Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong."

"What's inside that Sphere?"

"No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen. Whatever it is, he's dead meat."

"It's good to see you." Rose beamed at him, proud through the pounding of her heart. This wasn't the same scared Mickey she used to know. He seemed older.

"Yeah. It's good to see you too." He smiled, feeling warm from her affirmation.

The Cybermen escorted Yvonne and the Doctor into the Lever Room.

"Get away from the machines. Do what they say. Don't fight them!" he warned the staff.

The Cybermen poised their weapons at the ready.

"Don't shoot!" the Doctor shouted, but they fired anyway, killing all the scientists in the room.

"What are they?" Jackie asked, panicked.

The Cyber Leader turned to her. "We are the Cybermen." He turned towards the levers again. "The ghost shift will be increased to one hundred percent."

The levers shifted upright.

ONLINE, the computer signaled.

The Doctor squinted against the light. "Here come the ghosts."

The shadowy figures materialized.

Rajesh worked at the computer furiously. "Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here! I need—"

The sound of scraping metal cut him off. The Sphere shuddered again.

Mickey removed his coat and earpiece. "Here we go," he said, bracing himself for the Cybermen.

The Sphere started to open.

"But these Cybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?" Jackie asked.

"Don't you ever listen? 'A footprint doesn't look like a boot,'" he responded curtly, as if the answer were obvious.

"Achieving full transfer," called a Cyberman.

"They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them, right across the world." The Doctor could only imagine what horrors they were achieving around Earth.

"They're invading the whole planet," Yvonne said.

"It's not an invasion. It's too late for that. It's a victory," the Doctor replied, his voice low.

SPHERE ACTIVATED. SPHERE ACTIVATED. SPHERE ACTIVATED. SPHERE ACTIVATED, the computer called out.

Rose was down there. And he couldn't get to her.

The storm he feared, the storm he felt coming, was no longer approaching. The storm was here.

"I know what's in there, and I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing." Mickey ran over to the Sphere platform and pulled out a huge gun he'd stored underneath it. He resumed his position near his companions and aimed it at the opening Sphere. "This is going to blast them to Hell."

"Samuel, what are you doing?" Rajesh asked.

"The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth." He cocked the gun.

"But I don't understand. The Cybermen don't have the technology to build a Void Ship. That's way beyond you. How did you create that Sphere?" the Doctor demanded of the Cyber Leader.

"The Sphere is not ours," it replied in its signature flat, grating tone.

His intensity melted into fear. "What?"

The Cyber Leader continued. "The Sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown."

"Then what's inside it?" he asked, his mind running through an infinite number of possibilities.

"Rose is down there," Jackie pointed out, panicked.

"You think I don't already know that?" he shouted.

"That's not Cybermen," Mickey said.

Four Daleks descended from the Sphere.

"Oh, my god," was all Rose could say.

"LOCATION, EARTH. LIFE FORMS DETECTED. EXTERMINATE!" the black Dalek commanded.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" the other three echoed.


	11. I'm Sorry, We All Knew This Was Coming

The four Daleks advanced threateningly. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

Rose's mind was spinning. What would the Doctor do if he were here? He would...run that gob of his. "Daleks!" she shouted. "You're called Daleks. I know your name." She took off her lab coat. "Think about it. How can I know that? A human who knows about the Daleks and the Time War. If you want to know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends."

"Yeah, Daleks. Time War. Me too," Mickey added.

"Yeah. And me," Rajesh lied. He had no idea what was going on.

"YOU WILL BE NECESSARY." The eyestalk of the black Dalek, obviously the Controller, swiveled to his cohorts. "REPORT. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE GENESIS ARK?"

"STATUS, HIBERNATION," a bronze Dalek barked in reply.

The Dalek Controller spoke again. "COMMENCE AWAKENING. THE GENESIS ARK MUST BE PROTECTED ABOVE ALL ELSE."

The other Daleks circled around the device and extended their plungers onto the four half-spheres on the casing of the ark.

"The Daleks. You said they were all dead," Mickey whispered.

"Never mind that," Rose replied. "What the hell's a Genesis Ark?"

"What's down there?" Jackie asked, on the verge of tears. She made every effort to stay calm. "She was in that room with the sphere. What's happened to Rose?"

"I don't know," the Doctor answered, a hint of exasperation. He leaned against a nearby wall.

Jackie looked away and scoffed, and it turned into a sob.

He moved forward to comfort her, his voice low, but filled with determination. "I'll find her. I brought you here, I'll get you both out, you and your daughter. Jackie, look at me."

She wouldn't.

"Look at me," he insisted.

Jackie met his eyes.

"I promise you. I give you my word."

She trusted him, albeit reluctantly. The Doctor had never let them down before, not if he could help it. She knew Rose was his top priority. He would protect her at all costs.

The Cyber Leader stepped into Yvonne's office. "You will talk to your central world authority and order global surrender."

Yvonne replied with no hint of fear. "Oh, do some research. We haven't got a central world authority."

"You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths. This broadcast is for humankind."

She shivered.

The Cyber Leader turned to face a Cyberman behind him, who used his optic receptors to transmit the message globally. "Cybermen now occupy every landmass on this planet, but you need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex and class and color and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us."

The Doctor heard explosions outside in reply. He walked to the window to peer down below. Smoke rose from various points around the city. Earth wasn't going to be conquered without a fight. It was futile, but it gave him some hope. It reminded him how much he loved humans after seeing the worst of them in Torchwood that morning.

"I ordered surrender," the Cyber Leader growled, as much as one could with no emotions.

The Doctor spoke with rising intensity until his voice was a shout. "They're not taking instructions. Don't you understand? You're on every street, you're in their homes, you've got their children! Of course they're going to fight!"

The Dalek Controller approached Rose and Mickey. "WHICH OF YOU IS LEAST IMPORTANT?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked.

"WHICH OF YOU IS LEAST IMPORTANT?" it demanded again.

Rose shook her head. "No, we don't work like that. None of us."

"DESIGNATE THE LEAST IMPORTANT."

Rajesh stepped forward. "This is my responsibility."

"No, you don't," Rose objected. She knew what was going to happen. They would kill him.

Rajesh stood in front of the Dalek. "I, er, I represent the Torchwood Institute. Anything you need, you come through me. Leave these two alone."

"YOU WILL KNEEL."

"What for?"

"KNEEL."

He looked around at the other Daleks surrounding him and realized he didn't have a choice.

"THE DALEKS NEED INFORMATION ABOUT CURRENT EARTH HISTORY."

"Yeah, well, I can give you a certain amount of intelligence but nothing that will compromise Homeland security—"

"SPEECH IS NOT NECESSARY. WE WILL EXTRACT BRAINWAVES."

Rose's gut twisted as the three bronze Daleks extended their plungers towards the man.

"Don't. I—I'll tell you everything you need. No!" he protested. Then he screamed in torment.

Rose hid her face in Mickey's shoulder.

"Scans detect unknown technology active within Sphere chamber," the Cyber Leader said.

"Cybermen will investigate," one of the Cybermen responded.

"Units 10-6-5 and 10-6-6 will investigate Sphere chamber," the Cyber Leader ordered.

"We obey." The units grabbed a few scientists and headed for the lab.

Rajesh's withered body dropped to the floor.

Rose's gut turned again. She'd seen so much around the universe, grown accustomed to many things, but never death.

"HIS MIND SPOKE OF A SECOND SPECIES INVADING EARTH INFECTED BY THE SUPERSTITION OF GHOSTS."

"You didn't need to kill him!" Rose shouted.

"NEITHER DID WE NEED HIM ALIVE."

Rose started at the body.

"DALEK THAY, INVESTIGATE OUTSIDE."

"I OBEY." Thay wheeled towards the door.

"Units open visual link," the Cyber Leader directed.

A live feed played on Yvonne's laptop.

"Visual contact established," the Leader noted.

In the Sphere Lab, the Dalek Controller ordered the same. "ESTABLISH VISUAL CONTACT. LOWER COMMUNICATIONS BARRIER."

A screen appeared above the Sphere platform.

In the office, a Dalek appeared in the sights of the Cybermen. The Doctor's blood ran cold. The Daleks built the Sphere. The Cybermen followed. A war would most certainly break out between the two races. Earth would be caught in the crosshairs.

Rose had been in the lab with the Daleks. Daleks showed no mercy.

 _The Valiant Child who will die in battle so very soon_. The words of the Beast haunted him.

The premonition of the coming storm washed over him for a second time.

Is this where he was to lose her? Caught between two of his greatest enemies?

He shivered.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES," Thay ordered.

"You will identify first," the Cybermen returned.

"STATE YOUR IDENTITY."

"You will identify first."

"IDENTIFY!"

Mickey chuckled as they continued sparring. "It's like Stephen Hawking meets the speaking clock."

The Cybermen continued. "That answer is irrelevant and illogical. You will modify."

"DALEKS DO NOT TAKE ORDERS."

"You have identified as Daleks."

The Dalek Controller spoke in the lab. "OUTLINE RESEMBLES THE INFERIOR SPECIES KNOWN AS THE CYBERMEN."

Jackie leaned in to the Doctor. "Rose said about the Daleks. She was terrified of them. What have they done to her, Doctor? Is she dead?"

"Phone," he spat.

"What?" she asked.

"Phone!" he spat louder.

He scrolled through her call list and selected Rose's mobile. It rang.

The Cybermen and the Daleks continued squabbling, but he paid them no attention. He was transfixed on the sound of the line ringing. During the third ring, he heard the voice of a Dalek not in the video feed, and knew that Rose had accepted the call.

"She's answered. She's alive. Why haven't they killed her?" The Doctor thought through a million possibilities.

"Well, don't complain!" Jackie chided.

"They must need her for something." Or she made a way for them to believe she did. Rose was brilliant like that. And still alive. His Rose was still alive. More than that, she was alive and feeding him information. Oh, his brilliant, brilliant Rose.

She was not lost to him, not yet, and not ever, not if he could help it.

The Daleks in the Sphere Lab mentioned something about protecting the Genesis Ark.

"Genesis Ark?" The Doctor had never heard of it. He turned his attention to the conversation between the Daleks and Cybermen, hoping for more information. He slid on his 3D glasses. The Daleks were covered in Void particles just like the Cybermen.

Yvonne mentioned that the levers controlled the breach. If he could get a look at the computers, maybe he could somehow use them to permanently close the Void and repair the walls of reality. If he could work the calculations just right, he could use the Void to pull in the Daleks and Cybermen as it sealed itself off.

The Cybermen and the Daleks continued their standoff.

"Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant," the Cybermen stated.

"DALEKS HAVE NO CONCEPT OF ELEGANCE."

"This is obvious. But consider, our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks. Together, we could upgrade the Universe."

The Doctor knew that wasn't going to happen.

"YOU PROPOSE AN ALLIANCE?"

"This is correct."

"REQUEST DENIED."

The Doctor swallowed thickly. This would begin the war. He needed to get to Rose as soon as possible.

The Cybermen raised their weapons. "Hostile elements will be deleted." They shot at the Dalek.

"EXTERMINATE!" Thay fired on the two Cybermen, and they both collapsed.

"Open visual link," the Cyber Leader commanded, and transmitted the message to the Sphere Lab. "Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen."

The Dalek Controller responded. "THIS IS NOT WAR. THIS IS PEST CONTROL."

"We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?"

"FOUR."

"You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?

"WE WOULD DESTROY THE CYBERMEN WITH ONE DALEK. YOU ARE SUPERIOR IN ONLY ONE RESPECT."

"What is that?"

"YOU ARE BETTER AT DYING. RAISE COMMUNICATIONS BARRIER!" it ordered.

One of the Daleks spotted the Doctor behind the Cyber Leader, who paced and spoke to somebody off screen. "WAIT!"

"REWIND IMAGE BY NINE RELLS. IDENTIFY GRID SEVEN GAMMA FLAME. THIS MALE REGISTERS AS ENEMY."

Rose smiled at the sight of the Doctor.

"THE FEMALE'S HEARTBEAT HAS INCREASED."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Mickey snickered.

The Dalek Controller wheeled over to her. "IDENTIFY HIM."

"All right, then." Rose figured it was worth a shot. "If you really want to know, that's the Doctor."

The Daleks backed away.

Rose had leverage now. "Five million Cybermen, easy. One Doctor? Now you're scared."

In the Lever Room, the Cyber Leader knew its forces needed more troops. "Quarantine the Sphere chamber. Start emergency upgrading. Begin with these personnel."

The Cybermen stalked around the room and grabbed every person.

"No, you can't do this! We surrendered! We surrendered!" Yvonne screamed.

A Cyberman grabbed Jackie.

The Doctor reached for her, but she was just beyond his grasp. Two Cybermen grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away.

"This one," one of them said. "His increased adrenaline suggests that he has vital Dalek information."

The Doctor fought with all his might to escape their grasp and rescue Jackie, but all his protesting was to no avail.

The Cybermen escorted the prisoners to the makeshift conversion chamber away from the Lever Room. Jackie and Yvonne watched as they shoved a man inside. They saw sparks fly and heard the man screaming in agony.

"What happens in there? What's upgrading mean? What do they do?" Jackie asked.

Yvonne fought to keep her lunch down. "I think they remove the brain." She swallowed thickly. "Sorry, erm, I think they remove the brain and they put it in a suit of armour. That's what these things are. They're us."

"Next." A Cyberman grabbed Yvonne.

Jackie yelled at her. "This is your fault. You and your Torchwood. You've killed us all!"

"I did my duty for Queen and Country," she said, for comfort, perhaps. She wrenched her arm from the Cyberman's grasp. "I did my duty. I did my duty." Her gut twisted at the thought of the immense pain she would feel. "Oh, God. I did my duty."

Jackie saw sparks and heard Yvonne scream.

The Cyberman holding Jackie's arm dragged her down the corridor amidst screams from those being converted. "No! No!" Jackie struggled the whole way.

The Cyberman dropped her arm and left Jackie standing there. It turned to another Cyberman.

"Cyber Leader One has been terminated."

"Explain. Download shared files."

Jackie stepped away to see if they were paying attention. They said nothing to her.

"I will be upgraded to Cyber Leader."

She found the door to a stairwell and ran down the steps.

The Dalek returned from the corridor where it had faced the Cybermen. "CYBER THREAT IRRELEVANT. CONCENTRATE ON THE GENESIS ARK." The Daleks circled around the Genesis Ark and extended their plungers towards the ark casing.

"Why are we being kept alive?" Mickey whispered.

"They might need me." Rose had a suspicion.

"What is it?" he asked.

Rose thought in silence for a moment.

Mickey pulled his dimension hopper out of his pocket. "I could transport out of here, but it only carries one and I'm not leaving you."

Rose was taken aback by his devotion. She certainly didn't deserve it. "You'd follow me anywhere. What did I do to you all those years ago?"

He smirked. "Guess I'm just stupid."

She grabbed his hand and said, with all seriousness, "You're the bravest man I've ever met."

"What about the Doctor?"

She jokingly thought for a moment, and he smiled. "Oh, all right. Bravest human."

"Well, I can't think what the Daleks need with me. I'm nothing to them."

Rose looked over Mickey's shoulder at the Genesis Ark. "You could be. Whatever's inside that Ark is waking up, and I've seen this happen before." She thought about her first meeting with the Dalek in van Statten's bunker. "The first time I saw a Dalek, it was broken. It was dying. But I touched it. The moment I did that, I brought it back to life. As the Doctor said, when you travel in time in the Tardis, you soak up all this background radiation. It's harmless. It's just there. But in the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use it as a power supply."

Mickey smiled. "I love it when you talk technical."

"Shut up," she teased. "If the Daleks have got something inside that thing, and it needs waking up."

"They need you," Mickey said.

"You've traveled in time. Either one of us would do."

"But why would they build something they can't open themselves?"

Rose shook her head, but the Dalek Controller responded. "THE TECHNOLOGY IS STOLEN. THE ARK IS NOT OF DALEK DESIGN."

"Then who built it?" she asked.

"THE TIME LORDS. THIS IS ALL THAT SURVIVES OF THEIR HOME WORLD."

"What's inside?"

"THE FUTURE."

The Cyber Leader approached the Doctor, who sat helplessly in the window frame of Yvonne's office. "You are proof."

"Of what?" he asked.

"That emotions destroy you."

"Yeah, I am." His skin tingled as he felt some sort of energy fill the room. This was different from the Cybermen or the Daleks. "Mind you, I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion. And here it comes."

A group of black-clad soldiers materialized. They shot the Cybermen in the lever space.

The Doctor hid in the corner to shield himself from the blaster about to fire in his direction.

The soldier fired on the Cyber Leader, and he kneeled. His head exploded.

The Doctor rose and approached the group. He heard a familiar voice.

"Doctor? Good to see you again." He removed his mask.

The Doctor recognized him. "Jake?"

"The Cybermen came through from one world to another, and so did we," Jake Simmonds answered.

He was grateful for the help, but didn't they understand they were causing more damage?

Once Jake confirmed that the room was secure, he directed the others. "Defend this room. Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one Cyber Leader and they just download into another. Move!" They followed his orders.

The Doctor slipped on his 3D glasses and glared at them. "You can't just, just, just hop from one world to another. You can't."

"We just did. With these." Jake tossed a dimension hopper to the Doctor.

He stared at the yellow disk in his hands. "But that's impossible. You can't have this sort of technology.

"We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it. Do you want to come and see?" He activated his own hopper.

"No!" The Doctor reached out to stop him, but they dematerialized before he could do anything.

They rematerialized in the same room. Well, almost the same room. Thick cables were strewn about the dark room and over the computers.

"Parallel Earth, parallel Torchwood," Jake explained. "Except we found out what the Institute was doing and the People's Republic took control."

That didn't matter to the Doctor. "I've got to get back. Rose is in danger, and her mother."

"That'll be Jackie, my wife in a parallel universe."

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck in amazement as Pete Tyler, Head of Torchwood, strode into the room.

"And as for you, Doctor, at least this time I know who you are."

"Right, yes, fine, hooray! But I've gotta get back. Right now."

"No, you're not in charge here. This is our world, not yours. And you're gonna listen for once."

Universes apart, but he's not so different from Rose. Genetics really are a marvel.

And then time seem to slow around him as the synapses in his mind all fired at once. This parallel world was the final piece to the puzzle.

He could close the breach from the proper side, and the Cybermen and Daleks would be pulled right back into the Void from whence they came as the breach sealed itself.

The TARDIS would be fine, having a variety of methods to shield herself from the Void.

But Rose did not. Rose would be pulled into the Void.

He shuddered at the thought.

He had to get her over here. It was the only way to guarantee her safety.

And how to get Rose to come over here?

Jackie.

If Jackie went with Pete, Rose would go with Jackie. Rose couldn't bear the thought of being separated from her mother. That's what she'd told him. And the Doctor didn't want that for Rose anyway.

 _So, retrospectively, because time is irrelevant_ , he reasoned, _she gave me permission to do this_.

It made sense on the surface, but he knew Rose wouldn't accept that excuse.

But all that mattered to him in that moment was keeping her safe from the approaching storm.

He rested his cheek on the wall of parallel Torchwood's Lever Room, peering with one eye over the vast expanse, fingers splayed across the surface. If he reached hard enough, he could feel his connection to the TARDIS. Blimey, the walls between dimensions were in poor shape, weren't they? If he didn't close off the breach soon, the two universes would collapse into one another.

Pete and Jake caught the Doctor up on the history of the Cybermen after he and Rose had left the parallel world the first time. Apparently, the time difference accelerated a bit. Three years since the Cybermen left that world. How many more since the Doctor and Rose left? In the proper universe, it had only been a few months.

Pete mentioned Mickey and how he'd gone ahead to find Rose.

The Doctor wanted to gauge his receptiveness towards gaining a daughter. Had that changed since their first visit? "She's your daughter. Did Mickey explain?"

"She's not mine. She's the child of a dead man." Pete was reluctant, but would come around once he got to know Rose. Rose could worm her way into anybody's heart.

Pete rambled on for a bit longer about the problems in his world due to the breach, and the Doctor scolded them about using the dimension disks. Pete tried to pawn off the Cybermen on the proper universe. The Doctor wouldn't have it.

"That's your problem," Pete said. "I'm protecting this world and this world only."

Tough man, tough sell, Pete Tyler.

But he was the key to solving the Doctor's dilemma. How to sell him the solution? Hit the heart.

The Doctor chuckled. "Pete Tyler. I knew you when you were dead. Now here you are, fighting the fight. Alone." He approached the man. "There is a chance, back on my world, Jackie Tyler might still be alive."

"My wife died."

"Her husband died. Good match."

"There's more important things at stake." He played hardball, but the Doctor had him. Any resistance against the Tyler women was futile, he knew. He needed to get them together.

"Doctor, help us," he pleaded.

Oh, was he going to help, more than Pete even knew.

"What? Close the breach, stop the Cybermen, defeat the Daleks? Do you believe I can do that?"

Pete finally smiled. "Yes."

"Maybe that's all I need." He grinned. "Off we go then!"

A quick trip through the Void, and they were back in the correct Torchwood. The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur to him. Every step forward meant he was closer to the time he'd have to say goodbye to Rose forever. He had to keep reminding himself that a living Rose was the only option at the end of all this, and sending her to the parallel world was the best way to ensure that happened.

First order of business: find Jackie. He stuffed the disk in his pocket for later. Rose would need it. He ran to phone Jackie in Yvonne's office. Bless her, practical mother-in-law, she answered her mobile. She was in the North staircase.

Next: find the Cybermen. "Surrender" and lead them to the Daleks. Might as well let some fall as collateral damage in this whole process. They would serve as a distraction so he and his friends could escape.

Then: rescue Rose. She needed to see Pete and Jackie reunite. It would make it easier for her, the hope of having her family reunited.

He directed the others to set charges on the other doors that lead into the Sphere Lab. He waited outside the open door where Rose was being held. He could hear her taunt the Daleks.

She was so strong. She didn't need him _._ She would be fine without him. Here she was, in the face of the most terrible, ghastly, deadly race in the universe. Anybody else would have cowered in fear. She scoffed in its eyestalk.

Gods, that was so sexy…but he couldn't think about that.

He fought down a wave of dread.

 _Put on a show for her,_ the Doctor thought. _Don't let her see. Don't let her know._

"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" a Dalek barked.

That was his cue. He swaggered in to meet the Daleks.

"Oh, now, hold on, wait a minute!" He strode through the doors, 3D glasses on.

"ALERT. ALERT. YOU ARE THE DOCTOR," the Dalek Controller shouted.

"SENSORS REPORT HE IS UNARMED," another said.

"That's me. Always."

"THEN YOU ARE POWERLESS!"

"Not me. Never," he replied, and then regarded Rose with a warm smile. "How are you?"

"Oh, same old, you know." She grinned, relieved to finally see him.

"Good. And Mickity Mick Mickey. Nice to see you!" He fistbumped his old friend.

"And you, boss." Mickey smiled. There was a first.

"SOCIAL INTERACTION WILL CEASE."

The Dalek Controller addressed the Doctor. "HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THE TIME WAR?"

"By fighting. On the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that." His face was serious, a twinge of guilt pricking his hearts. "But you lot ran away!" he shouted with more levity.

"WE HAD TO SURVIVE."

"The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?"

Rose cut in. "Doctor, they've got names. I mean, Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they—"

"I AM DALEK THAY."

"DALEK SEK." He was the Controller.

"DALEK JAST."

"DALEK CAAN."

"So that's it! At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."

"Who are they?" Rose asked.

He stalked around one of the Daleks, whose eyestalk swiveled around to follow him. "A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing."

"But that thing," Mickey said, referring to the Genesis Ark, "they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know. Never seen it before.

"But it's Time Lord," Rose pointed out.

"Both sides had secrets." He looked at Dalek Sek. "What is it? What have you done?"

"TIME LORD SCIENCE WILL RESTORE DALEK SUPREMACY."

"What does that mean? What sort of 'Time Lord science'? What do you mean?" he demanded.

"They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up," Rose explained.

"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch." He leaned towards Dalek Sek's eyestalk, effectively getting in his face. "Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream," he growled.

"THE DOCTOR WILL OPEN THE ARK!" Sek demanded.

He scoffed. "The Doctor will not."

"YOU HAVE NO WAY OF RESISTING."

"Well, you got me there," he feigned concession and reached inside his pocket. "Although there is always this." He pulled out his sonic.

"A SONIC PROBE?"

"That's screwdriver."

"IT IS HARMLESS."

"Oh, yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good at opening doors."

He blew up the chargers attached to the doors.

The Cybermen, Pete, and Jake rushed in. The room erupted in crossfire between the Cybermen and the Daleks. Pete moved to pick up Rose off the floor and they all made it out of the room.

The Doctor didn't even care that Mickey touched the Ark, whatever it was. He would fix whatever hell emerged from it when he closed the breach.

The plan was working, to his delight and his dismay. Each successful step meant moving on to the next.

Now, to find Jackie in the stairwell. Figures, these jeopardy friendly Tyler women, there she was, about to be killed by the Cybermen. Pete fired the shot that killed them. How romantic was that?

Jackie was stunned. "Pete!"

"Hello Jacks," he said, a bit overwhelmed at seeing her face again.

"I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?"

"I'm not a ghost."

"But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete."

The Doctor stepped forward. "It's Pete from a different universe. There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where—"

"Oh, you can shut up."

The Doctor nodded and stepped back.

Rose smiled.

"Oh," she whispered. "You look old."

"You don't."

"How can you be standing there?"

"Just got lucky." Pete's voice was on the verge of breaking, seeing the image of his dead wife. "Lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or…"

Jackie said with absolute conviction, "There was never anyone else."

The Doctor fought the urge to look at Rose. His plan was working. As it should. With that line, Jackie sealed the deal. And he knew there would _never_ be anyone else for him.

"20 years, though. Look at me, I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."

"Brought her up. Rose Tyler. That's not bad."

Jackie nodded. Nobody had told her that before. "Yeah," was all she could whisper.

He looked at Rose. He was so proud of her and who she'd become. And she would have a father again, but not in this world. He could at least give her that.

Rose's face shone with hope. Her hope was for Jackie to be happy, but there was also a hint of hope that maybe she would have a father again. Maybe he would stay and they would all be together, at least when she and the Doctor visited. Had he planned this, the Doctor? She would have to thank him—profusely, and not necessarily with words—later.

"In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine, it worked. Made me rich."

"I don't care about that." Jackie paused. "How rich?"

"Very."

"I don't care about that." She paused again. "How very?"

Rose rolled her eyes. The Doctor smiled. Perfect match.

"Thing is though, Jacks, you—you're not my wife. I'm sorry but your not."

Jackie's face fell.

"I mean—we both—"

She nodded, on the precipice of tears.

"You know it's just sort of—" Pete tried to reason with himself. He really did. But with her, standing there in front of him, his resolved crumbled. "Aw, come here." Pete dropped the gun and he and Jackie ran to one another. She launched herself into his arms and he caught her.

The Doctor sighed with relief and dread. It worked, which only meant he was that much closer to having to say goodbye to Rose.

Next step, the two Magnaclamps from the warehouse. He'd attach them both to the wall and would be able to flip both the levers on. Then he would latch onto either one and hold on for dear life as the Daleks and the Cybermen flew past him into the Void.

The Ark, which the Daleks had been escorting through the warehouse, took to the sky. They all raced to the top floor to see what new havoc the Daleks would wreak on the world.

"Time Lord science," the Daleks had called it. Bigger on the inside. Millions of Daleks stuffed inside a prison ship, sent through the Void. Oh, this was not good. Damn the Time Lords.

The Daleks and the Cybermen would destroy the world, and so would the cracking walls of the dimensions if he didn't close it soon.

He had to get the Tylers out of there. _Now_.

Pete moved first. Just as well, because he found himself frozen in dread at the window over what he was about to do to Rose.

"I'm sorry, but you've had it," Pete declared. "This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home." He grabbed a dimension hopper for Jackie. "Jacks, take this. You're coming with us."

"But they're destroying the city," she protested.

"Oh, I'd forgotten you could argue. It's not just London. It's the whole world." He placed the hopper around her neck and cupped her face. "But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks, and it's safe. As long as the Doctor closes the breach." He looked in the office. "Doctor?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. He prepared himself to put on a big show for Rose. He wanted to make her smile. That's how he wanted to remember her. He slipped on the glasses and turned around with a big, stupid grin. "Oh, I'm ready." He ran out of the office towards the computers. "I've got the equipment right here, thank you, Torchwood. Slam it down and close off both universes." He set about working on the software.

REBOOT SYSTEMS, called out the computer.

"But we can't just leave," said Rose. "What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?"

He continued to play the manic fool. "They're part of the problem and that makes them part of the solution. Oh, yes!"

Rose smiled.

"Well? Isn't anyone going to ask? What is it with the glasses?" He pointed at his accessory.

Rose indulged him. "What is it with the glasses?"

"I can see! That's what!" he shouted. "'Cause we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding, and the Cybermen traveled through the Void to get here. And you lot," he motioned at the others, "one world to another, via the Void. Oh, I like that. 'Via the Void.' Look." He removed the glasses and put them on Rose.

She grabbed them and grinned.

"I've been through it. Do you see?" He weaved his head back and forth in front of Rose.

REBOOT IN THREE MINUTES.

His hearts raced. Three minutes with her. That's all he had left.

"What is it?" she asked, moving her hand through the particles that surrounded him.

"Void stuff."

"Like, erm, background radiation!" she smiled.

"That's it. Look at the others." He spun her around and pointed towards Jackie. "And the only one who hasn't been through the Void, your mother." He sniffed. "First time she's looked normal in her life."

Rose giggled.

"Oi," Jackie protested, but she could see something wasn't right. He was too manic, even by his standards.

He turned and ran towards the white wall. Like he hoped, Rose followed him. He wanted to run with her one more time. "But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them, I just open the Void. And reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

"Pulling them all in!" Rose shouted. She was enthralled with this. She lived for this.

"Pulling them all in!" he repeated.

"Sorry," Mickey cut in, "but what's the Void?"

"The dead space. Some people call it hell." He'd answered that question so many times today. In any other circumstance, he'd have given a rude response at having to repeat himself so much.

"So, you're sending the Daleks and the Cybermen to hell?" Mickey slipped on his hopper. He laughed and turned look at Jake. "Man, I told you he was good."

Rose stopped grinning. "But it's like you said, we've all got void stuff. Me, too, 'coz we went to that parallel world." She looked down at her hand. "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."

He knew she would make the connection, counted on it, wanted her to understand the plan for herself. He walked to her, head bowed, as she ran her hand through the Void particles.

He summoned any amount of courage he had left to meet her eyes. "That's why you've got to go."

REBOOT IN TWO MINUTES, the computer chimed.

Rose blinked in disbelief.

"Back to Pete's World," he continued. "Hey, we should call it that! Pete's World."

Pete smiled a little. The Doctor was clever, how he'd broken all of this to Rose.

"I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."

"And then you close it, for good?" Pete asked.

"The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff, in the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Caput," he emphasized the T in an effort to keep the mood light.

"But you stay on this side?" Rose asked.

"But you'll get pulled in?" Mickey asked.

He stared at Rose, re-memorizing what it felt like to be lost in her eyes. It would be the last time for him.

"That's why," he bounded over to the Magnaclamp, "I got these. I'll just have to hold tight, been doing all my life." He looked around at all his companions except Rose.

"I'm supposed to go."

"Yeah." He refused to look at her.

"To another world and then it gets sealed off."

"Forever."

 _Don't, Rose. Don't say forever._ He couldn't stand to hear that word from her, what had been her promise to him. He distracted himself with setting the controls on the computer.

"That's not going to happen." Of course, she would fight.

The building shook from the commotion of the warring Daleks and Cybermen.

Pete sprung to action. "We haven't got time to argue. The plan works. We're going."

"No, I'm not leaving him!" Rose shouted.

"I'm not going without her," Jackie protested.

"Oh, my god, we're going!" Pete shot back. Any other man would have scampered away from Jackie's fierce glare. Pete wasn't fazed.

Pete deserved her, the Doctor thought, the one man in the entire multiverse who wasn't afraid of her.

"I've had 20 years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her!" Jackie protested.

"You've got to," Rose insisted.

"Well, that's tough!"

Gods, those Tyler women were stubborn.

"Mum," Rose pleaded.

REBOOT IN ONE MINUTE.

"I've had a life with you for 19 years."

The Doctor stopped typing and stood behind her. She didn't understand that this was the only way to keep her safe. She didn't understand that he was willing to let her go so he could have the assurance that she was safe.

Rose continued, taking small steps towards the Doctor behind her. "But then I met the Doctor, and all the things I've seen him do for me, for you, for all of us, for the whole stupid planet, and every planet out there and he does it alone, Mum."

Pete reached for the dimension disk in his pocket and met the Doctor's eyes.

The Doctor pulled his disk out of his pocket at the same time.

They knew what had to be done.

Rose continued. "But not anymore. 'Cos now he's got me."

The Doctor slipped the disk over Rose's neck and prayed Pete would press his quickly. He couldn't bear to hear Rose argue with him. He couldn't bear for her to see him so broken.

All at once, Rose and the others disappeared.

He would be alone, if it meant Rose was safe. And now she was.

He moved to finish setting the coordinates at the computer. It was nearly time to close the breach.

Rose looked at her surroundings. He'd done it again, sent her away. "Oh, no, you don't. He's not doing that to me again."

She pressed the switch on her hopper and disappeared.

Pete snapped the disk from Jackie's neck, knowing that she would try to follow.

"But I've got to go back!" Jackie protested.

"The Doctor said, every time we use one of these, it damages the whole world. Now that's it!" he shouted.

"She's your daughter!"

"She's your daughter, not mine. That's an order."

Mickey stepped forward to challenge Pete, but Pete snatched the disk from him before he could do anything else.

"Mickey, tell him!" Jackie cried. "Mickey!"

Pete heard his wife's anguish. He tried to hug her.

"Get away from me!" Jackie shouted and pushed him away. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"I think this is the on switch."

The Doctor snapped his head from the computer to see Rose standing in front of him. He grasped her arms. "Once the breach collapses, that's it. You'll never be able to see her again. Your own mother!" he shouted.

She was resolute. "I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never going to leave you."

She loved him. She was willing to give up her family for him.

He shouldn't have tried to force her to go. He was furious with her, but he understood, and he knew there was no arguing with Rose Tyler, and he would have to deal with her later.

Oh, gods, her eyes were darting between his eyes and his lips. Later, he told himself. He'd deal with that later, after all this was done.

"So what can I do to help?" she asked.

SYSTEMS REBOOTED. OPEN ACCESS.

And now he didn't have a choice to send her back. The disk wouldn't recharge in enough time. The computer was ready. He needed to stop the Daleks and the Cybermen.

And he was furious with her. She was in danger. He had no choice but to risk her safety now.

"Those coordinates over there, set them all to six. And hurry up!" he barked for good measure, just to let her know how angry he was.

Rose tried to hide a smile. He'd get over it later, when she was snogging the life out of him and more. She would not let him get away with trying to send her away yet again.

The computer signaled that Cybermen were close.

"We've got Cybermen on the way up."

He looked over her shoulder. "How many floors down?"

"Just one."

He ran back to his computer and finished working on the settings.

LEVERS OPERATIONAL.

Music to his ears. He grinned. He rushed to grab the Magnaclamps. This would work. They would make it through this. As long as they had the Magnaclamps, they would survive this and come out on the other side. And he would never let Rose go again. In fact, he was going to handcuff her to his bed and keep her there for the rest of his lives.

"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team."

"Hope and Glory. Mutt and Jeff. Shiver and Shake."

"Which one's Shiver?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm Shake." He handed the Magnaclamp to her.

They both lifted the Magnaclamps to the wall. "Press the red button," he instructed her. "When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us. Are you ready?"

Rose started out the office window. The Daleks were approaching. "So are they."

"Let's do it!" the Doctor shouted, and they both shifted their levers into the on position. They ran for their Magnaclamp and held on.

The vacuum from the Void pulled them, but the Magnaclamps held firm.

"The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!" he shouted as the Daleks flew by them.

Soon, they saw many more Daleks and Cybermen flying by. One of them happened to strike the lever on Rose's side. It started to lower to the off position.

OFFLINE.

"Hold on!" he shouted. He would figure this out.

In hindsight, he would forever feel guilty for not thinking sooner. Something as simple as using the sonic to reactivate the lever would have sufficed. Anything besides what he let happen.

He was mortified, paralyzed as Rose reached out, hoping to catch it before it moved too far from her grasp.

She had to let go of the Magnaclamp to reach it. "Gotta get it upright!" she shouted. She struggled to push the lever back up against the force of the pulling Void.

ONLINE AND LOCKED.

"Rose, hold on!" he shouted.

He watched her fingers slipped.

"Hold on!" he shouted again and reached for her, even though he knew it would do no good.

Her fingers finally failed and she fell towards the Void.

"ROSE!" He screamed in horror. " _NO!_ " Unbidden tears clouded his vision as he screamed until his throat was raw.

Pete appeared. He caught Rose.

She looked back at the Doctor.

Pete activated a second disk and the pair disappeared.

The wall rippled and he saw the opening to the Void collapse on itself.

His chest heaved and he stared in disbelief.

 _Pete saved her. Pete saved her. Pete saved her,_ he repeated to himself.

She was safe.

Eventually he convinced his racing hearts of that fact.

She was safe, but now she was gone.

She was gone. Forever.

He walked to the stark white wall and pressed himself against it, resting his cheek on the cold surface. He laid his palm on the wall, hoping to feel the other side. Nothing.

Rose slammed her palms on the wall, hoping to break through to the other side. "Take me back! Take me back!" she sobbed. "Take me back!"

Pete removed his dimension hopper. "It's stopped working. He did it. He closed the breach."

Jackie looked at him with growing tears. She knew her daughter was safe, yes, but she was also without her Doctor.

"No!" Rose sobbed. When she calmed after a moment, she rested her cheek on the cold surface. She laid her palms on the wall, hoping to feel the other side. Nothing.

The Doctor mindlessly trudged away from the wall. He had to shut down, or he'd be overcome by grief. He made the long walk through the silent corridors of Canary Wharf back to the TARDIS. He opened the doors and stepped in. He leaned his head back to rest on the wood for a long time, trying to shove down any feelings of sorrow.

Sorrow meant he was giving up. Accepting that Rose was gone.

No. He refused to succumb to sorrow. Rose deserved better.

He blinked back the tears he felt threatening to consume him, and he walked straight to the console to begin working, and he wouldn't rest until he found a way back to her.


	12. Message in a Bottle

Two weeks. Two long, restless weeks.

He'd done everything he knew, ran every calculation he could, exhausted every option, searched every corner of this universe for a way to make it to Rose.

He tried to slip through the crack in time, but it had closed too much. The TARDIS wouldn't let him shatter the boundaries of the dimensions, even if he understood the consequences. He railed and slammed his fists down on the console, but no amount of pleading could make that crack wide enough.

He tried entering back into the timeline at Canary Wharf. When the TARDIS wouldn't materialize at one point, he tried another. And another. And another. But she wouldn't let him in.

He tried to take the TARDIS back in time to when Rose was pulled through the Void with Pete. Maybe if he could go through the crack at the same time, he could just pick her up and hop back to the other side. But the TARDIS wouldn't let him.

The event was a fixed point in time. And he knew what that meant. Nobody could change a fixed point in time.

Damn fixed points in time.

If only the Time Lords were still around, he could have begged for their help. Traveling between parallel worlds would be no problem.

It was all his fault anyway. The Time Lords were gone because of him. Torchwood was created because of him. If he hadn't stayed away from Earth for so long trying to keep Rose safe from the storm, he might have been able to stop the Cybermen sooner.

He'd lost her.

The Doctor knew that some impossibilities weren't impossible. "Impossible" proved to be wrong much of the time. But with every effort coming up futile, hitting wall after wall was bound to wear anyone down. Even the Doctor could see that it was simply impossible to get her back.

Admitting defeat, he trudged down the corridor. He hadn't eaten or slept in those two weeks. Exhaustion hit his chest with the force of a thousand winds.

He stood in the doorway to Rose's room, leaning his back against the frame, eyes closed, hands in pockets. He swallowed thickly as he replayed memories of every conversation they'd had. His fingers itched to touch her skin.

He gazed at her bed.

He did the only thing he knew to do. He walked to the edge of the bed and sat. He shed his jacket, tie, and Oxford and laid them over the arm of the nearby sitting chair. He toed off his trainers and socks. Then he lay back on his pillow, with his hands resting beneath his head, fingers laced. He closed his eyes and waited.

Waited for Rose, who would never curl into his side again.

He rolled onto his side and reached for her pillow. He clutched it to his chest and curled around it. It didn't fit the same way Rose did.

Nothing in his life would ever fit the same way Rose did.

But it smelled of her. He inhaled her scent.

All that rage and determination finally broke. He mourned. His tears said all the words he couldn't.

 _I need you here with me._

 _I miss you._

 _I'm so sorry I couldn't make it to you._

 _I love you._

When he could weep no more, he slept.

When he woke nearly 24 linear hours later, he took a deep breath and struggled to open his eyes. He rolled onto his side again, half expecting to curl himself around Rose's sleeping form, but she wasn't there. He stared at the empty space next to him and sighed.

He looked towards her en suite, and there on the door knob hung his Oxford. Rose had worn it after they'd finally given in to their desire for each other. He smiled lightly at the memory.

"I never wanted to leave," he said softly. _We should have stayed there forever._

There. His room. His bed.

He slowly made his way to his door.

Her clothes were still strewn about on the floor, having been gloriously removed by himself.

He walked to the bed and sat on the edge. He stooped down to pick up the purple blouse she'd worn. He absentmindedly played with the fabric between his fingers, trying to distract himself from the space behind him where they'd made love. All he could picture was the two of them tangled there, him tasting her skin, her hands raking through his hair as they delighted in each other.

He worked up the courage enough to reach a hand out and touch where she'd lain next to him. He ran his other hand through his hair and finally turned his head to see. It was empty. She wasn't there.

He slung the shirt over his shoulder and walked towards the door. He placed a hand on the doorframe, rubbing his thumb against the grain of the wood. "Clean this up for me, will you?"

The TARDIS hummed in acknowledgement.

He headed for the console room. When he walked past Rose's door, he stopped in the doorway again. He glanced around the room one more time and swallowed thickly. He pulled the knob and used the sonic to lock the door. He solemnly walked away.

When he arrived in the console room, the monitor beeped at him. He laid the shirt on a nearby rail and pulled out his glasses to study the screen.

He'd only run scenarios for which the solution was crossing to the other side and retrieving Rose.

The TARDIS had taken the liberty of running a different scenario for him. He wouldn't be able to physically make it over to Pete's World, but he could utilize the power from a nearby supernova to send a projection of himself. The star was perfect. It supported no life and was ideally located near the gap.

At least he would be able to see her one more time and say goodbye.

Once the TARDIS had gained enough power from accelerating the star's death, he began to transmit a message.

"Rose," he whispered. He waited a moment, like maybe he would be able to hear her answer.

"Rose," he whispered again.

The TARDIS gently prodded him to wait.

If he focused his mind, he could see a beach. It was windy. He couldn't feel the wind, but he could tell by the white caps on the waves.

At this moment, his projection wasn't visible so the TARDIS could conserve the energy harvested from the supernova. Once she arrived at the meeting point, he would be able to make himself visible, but only for a short time. That would use up the last bit of energy, and then she would be gone. The gap would close shortly after.

 _Rose._

His voice.

She could see him. Not very clearly. His face was blurred, but she knew his silhouette.

She felt…the TARDIS.

She sat up immediately.

She hadn't felt TARDIS in nearly four months.

But there it was, in her dream. She'd know the feeling of that ship in her head anywhere. If she could feel the TARDIS, it must mean he was finally coming to get her.

 _Rose._

She felt the urge to travel. She didn't just hear him whispering her name. He was calling her from somewhere. She couldn't define a specific location, but she instinctively knew the way.

She told her parents she had something important to share, and she called Mickey to meet them at the mansion. When he arrived, they all sat in the living room. Rose explained what she'd heard and felt. "He's there. I can feel him. I just need to get to him."

Pete and Jackie looked at each other. They had worried about her for the last four months.

In the first week, Rose had slept a lot and had hardly eaten out of grief. They allowed her the space to mourn, bringing food to her room.

Pete managed to convince Jackie to leave Rose's side after a few days. He wanted to begin his life with her. He convinced her to let him take her on a date. Jackie refused at first, wanting to keep an eye on Rose. He'd asked Mickey to stay with Rose while they were out.

Mickey had been hesitant at first. He loved his friend, but he didn't want to bother Rose while she was grieving. All the same, he knew it wouldn't be good for Rose to be left alone, so he agreed. He knew she'd need someone who understood to comfort her.

And, to his surprise, Rose had been happy to see her friend. They planned a movie and popcorn night. It might be fun to watch parallel universe movies, she thought.

Once Jackie knew that Mickey would step up for his friend, her reasons for resisting Pete became fewer.

The formal wardrobe didn't hurt, either.

Rose gave Jackie permission to go out and have fun. She wanted them to be happy.

Jackie had hesitantly accepted his advances. Pete's World Pete was so warm and caring, grateful for a second chance at a marriage with Jackie Tyler, and it didn't take long for Jackie to warm up to him.

In the second month, Jackie noticed she was feeling funny. Was she…yes, she knew. She ticked down the days until she could confirm.

Rose had begun to explore the new London, sometimes with Mickey and sometimes on her own. Inevitably, she would notice the slight differences, and instinctively her hand would reach out for the Doctor's and she would start to speak, her amusement on the tip of her tongue. But then she remembered he wasn't there.

In the third month, doctors confirmed that Jackie Tyler was pregnant, had been for one month.

Rose was happy for Jackie. She was starting her new life. She finally had her new adventure. That would make it easier for Jackie when the Doctor would find her and take her back to the proper universe.

Rose had kept part of herself detached from the baby. Attachment wasn't necessary because the Doctor would find her. She would be leaving soon.

Pete invited Rose to spend some time at Torchwood.

Rose had hesitantly taken him up on his offer. "I'll work here and there at Torchwood, but understand that I'm not staying. The Doctor will find me."

"I understand, sweetheart. If anyone can figure it out, he can. But in the meantime, you need to keep yourself busy. And we could use someone of your expertise on our team. I've seen you work, and you're brilliant. You know a thing or two about aliens."

"I guess I do, don't I?" she'd smiled weakly.

That made Pete smile. She didn't smile much these days.

And on those days she spent at Torchwood, he treated her like an equal. He asked for her input.

She loved working with Mickey. Having his friendship in her life again made the days waiting for the Doctor a little more bearable.

And she'd secretly enjoyed the work. She loved sharing her knowledge about interaction with alien races. The Doctor would be proud of her, and she couldn't wait to share it with him.

In the living room of the Tyler Mansion, Pete made a decision. "Well, only one thing to do, I suppose," he sighed. He hadn't spent that much time with her, but he had begun to accept her as his daughter. Having lived for so long without the children he'd wanted, he'd had a long time to think about the type of father he wanted to be. He'd resolved that he would be the father who would give his children the world if he could, if it would make them happy. And getting Rose to the Doctor would make her happy. "Come on, pack a bag. We know you're going no matter what, but you don't need to go alone."

"And I'm not letting you go back over there without saying goodbye first," Jackie interjected. "I know how important he is to you. If he showed up in this living room, you'd step right back in that TARDIS without a second look at any of us. Speaking of which, why didn't himself show up here?"

"I don't know," Rose replied. "Must be blocked for some reason or other. When we came through the first time, the TARDIS couldn't travel around because this universe is filled with the wrong kind of energy for her. She had to stay in that park until the coral had charged up enough. I guess I have to go meet him."

She had a sinking feeling in her gut. What if the message wasn't from him? What if it was from telepathic aliens trying to mess with her mind?

Even worse, what if he wasn't actually here? What if he couldn't travel through to the gap to get to her? What if he was only able to send a message through?

No, she thought as she packed her bag. He's here, and he just can't get to her for some reason. She wouldn't accept the alternative. Because the alternative meant that she'd never get to see him again. And that wasn't a life she was prepared to accept.

Pete, Jackie, Mickey, and Rose all loaded up the Jeep. Rose followed the pull of the TARDIS.

They had to stop overnight to rest, but Rose couldn't sleep. She finally felt alive again with the presence of the TARDIS in her mind. She imagined how it would feel to be in his arms. She imagined that he would sweep her up in a big hug and spin her around. She imagined the warmth of his smile and she counted the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

 _Rose_.

His voice again.

"Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?" She waited.

No reply.

"Doctor, I'm here. Can you hear me?"

Silence.

"Doctor, can you..." She gave up asking. Obviously he couldn't hear her or he would've replied. Tears welled in her eyes. "Can you just come get me?" She sobbed. "Please, Doctor? Please, can you come find me?" She rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. She wore herself out and fell asleep.

The Tylers awoke early the next morning.

Rose simply rolled out of bed. She hadn't changed from the previous day. She didn't care. She'd be able to freshen up in her room on the TARDIS soon.

They rolled off in the Jeep again, following Rose's instructions.

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to go? We've been driving for over a day," Jackie asked.

"Mum, the TARDIS wouldn't lead me astray. The feeling is getting stronger every minute. We're almost there, I know."

They drove through Bergen, and they kept driving for about 50 miles.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor waited on the jump seat. He felt terrible.

Rose was probably counting on him to have found a way through the gap. How disappointed would she be that he couldn't be there to pick her up in the TARDIS? He'd failed her, lost her for good.

The TARDIS nudged him out of his thoughts.

She was close. He could feel it.

"Here," Rose said. "We're here. It's this beach coming up on the left." Her heart pounded.

The sign read Dårlig Ulv Stranden, but in her heart she knew the translation. _Bad Wolf Bay_. She was meant to be here. Bad Wolf, just like at the Game Station. She had scattered those words across time and space. She'd been able to fly the TARDIS back to the Doctor. Maybe the TARDIS was bringing the Doctor to her.

Pete drove down a small access road right onto the beach. Rose hopped out of the vehicle right away and looked around.

Mickey, Pete, and Jackie stayed in the Jeep for a moment.

"The TARDIS isn't here. I don't see it anywhere," Mickey noted as he looked around.

"Oh, dear, he's not…" Jackie said. She gently touched her fingers to her lips. She couldn't continue that thought. She couldn't imagine what would happen to Rose if he wasn't really there.

Pete took her hand and watched Rose wander around the Jeep for a moment.

Rose opened one of the doors. "I'm going down that way." She nodded further down the beach. "She's here, I know she is. I can feel her."

"Alright, sweetheart," Jackie acknowledged.

Rose walked away for a bit. She looked around, confused. He wasn't here. But she felt him. So why couldn't she see him?

Jackie, Pete, and Mickey got out of the Jeep. They stood close together near the Jeep and watched Rose.

She stared out at the waves. Her stomach sank. He wasn't in this universe. He wasn't able to come through after all. She was about to turn away when she saw movement in her peripheral vision.

It was the Doctor. He faded into view, at least partially. She could see the waves behind him. He was gently smiling at her.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Inside the TARDIS."

But the TARDIS wasn't here. He wasn't here.

He wasn't here.

"There's one tiny little gap in the universe left. Just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun to say goodbye."

 _Projection. Goodbye._ The heaviness of those words pressed on her chest.

"You look like a ghost." She shook her head, willing everything she had not to believe he wasn't physically on the beach with her.

"Hold on," he replied, configuring the sonic. This would use more power, but it would be worth it to give Rose the goodbye she deserved.

Goodbye. He had to say goodbye to Rose. Forever.

She could see him clearly now. The brave face he put on for her was gone. He looked lost.

Rose approached him with her hand outstretched. It was a gesture of comfort meant for both their sakes. "Can I—"

"Still just an image. No touch," he said softly, cutting her off. He couldn't bear to hear the whole question. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing her when she couldn't make contact. He couldn't give her what she needed. He couldn't bear the thought of not being able to feel her touch.

Rose refused to accept this as her reality now. Tears filled her eyes. "Can't you come through properly?"

"The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."

"So?" she lightly scoffed.

He smiled fondly. That was his Rose. She lived in defiance of the universe.

"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?" he asked.

"We're in Norway."

He nodded. "Norway, right." If not for the situation, they might have shared a laugh about it. She gave him a good ribbing from time to time about his bad driving.

"About 50 miles out of Bergen. It's called Dårlig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?" he asked, with a small amount What would he do if there were Daleks over there and he couldn't stop them?

"Dårlig," she corrected. "It's Norwegian for bad. This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay.'"

They laughed at it all. Funny how things go sometimes.

Bad Wolf. His Goddess of Time. She'd been able to reach into this universe as well and mark this very beach on which they stood.

"How long have we got?" she asked.

"About two minutes."

She laughed. "I can't think of what to say." Really, what could one say to the love of one's life a whole dimension away in only two minutes?

"You've still got Mr. Mickey then?" He would be able to take care of her, watch out for her.

"There's five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey…and the baby."

"You're not—" Blimey, maybe Mickey had done more than just take care of her?

Time Lords were supposed to be sterile. He knew the baby wasn't his. No, he wouldn't entertain that thought for a minute. Gods only know what he'd do to the universe then.

He wasn't angry or hurt at all. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to have a fantastic life. That had never changed.

"No." She giggled. "No. It's Mum. She's three months gone. More Tylers on the way."

He had been right about Pete and Jackie. They'd started a whole new life together. He was happy he could give them that. Jackie deserved happiness, especially after all he'd put her through in two years.

"And what about you, what are you…"

"Yeah, I'm back working in the shop."

She wouldn't. Not his Rose. She was pulling his leg. "Well, good for you."

"Shut up. Nah, I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet. It's open for business. I think I know a thing or two about aliens."

"Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth." He was so proud of her.

He found his next words hard to say. "You're dead, officially," his voice caught. She wasn't really dead. But she wasn't with him. It felt like she was. "Back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead." He remembered the horror he felt as she flew towards the Void. She might well have died, had it not been for Pete. "But here you are, living your life, day after day. The one adventure I can never have."

The one adventure he wanted more than anything. A life with Rose Tyler. He would have given anything in that moment to be stuck with her.

She couldn't hold back her tears any longer. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

"You can't," he said.

"What are you going to do?"

"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."

"On your own?"

He nodded. Nobody would ever be able to fill the void at his side. How could he travel with anybody else?

"I—" She breathed through her tears. "I love you."

"Quite right, too."

Rose nodded.

"And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it…"

Her eyes filled with hope.

And his filled with love. "Rose Tyler," he started.

He faded from view forever.

Rose Tyler finally crumbled. Her brave face she tried to put on for the Doctor's sake fell and twisted in grief. She sobbed. She turned and ran towards Jackie, who held her on the beach for a while.

Tears rolled down the Doctor's cheeks. Rose was gone from his life forever. He held his face in his hands for a moment.

He needed to move. He couldn't stay here, not orbiting around this blasted supernova. He set some coordinates on the console. He didn't care where he went so long as it was far away from here.

Luckily for him, when he turned around, he saw one Donna Noble clad in her wedding gown. He'd been quite perturbed at the time, but he was grateful for the temporary distraction at the end of it all. Surprisingly, he invited her to travel with him after they'd drained the Thames and he'd dropped her off at her home.

Rose had worried for him when she asked if he planned to travel alone. She knew him so well.

He figured asking Donna to travel with him would make her proud.

And Donna had been right about needing someone anyway. He'd said, when he first regenerated, that he couldn't stop himself. How true that still was of him. He hadn't been able to stop himself from staying while the flood waters drowned out the Empress of the Racnoss and her children. Donna was the one who shook him back into reality.

And when Donna rejected his invitation, Martha stepped in to keep him in line, even when he didn't want to be kept in line by Martha. Still, he made the best of it in his condition. Rose would have been proud of him. At least he hoped. He was rude much of the time. At times he felt like Martha wanted to supplant Rose's place in his life, even when Martha claimed she had no desire to do so, even when he'd made it clear at the beginning that he and Rose had been together and he wasn't interested in finding a new Rose. As a result, he held Martha severely at arm's length, even if she was a fine traveling companion by his standards, even if he'd trusted her with his life. He regretted his actions after she left.

He'd been proud and ashamed when Martha walked out on him. He hoped putting in a good word for her at UNIT would be enough to make up for his shortcomings, hoped she'd see it as a gesture in good faith.

And then, wonder of wonders, by some strange twist of fate he hadn't detected at the time, he found Donna Noble again. Or she had found him. He supposed, in the end, it hadn't really mattered either way. She became his best friend. Rose would have been proud of him.

During his travels with Donna, the universe whispered to him.

"She is returning," Lucius Petrus Dextrus had said in Pompeii.

He dared not allow himself to hope.

And then Donna mentioned a woman she'd met in her alternate reality. He'd written off this mystery woman as someone important only in the bent reality where the stars were going out.

Funny that, Donna and parallel worlds. Funny that, all the strange coincidences surrounding his and Donna's friendship.

Donna kept insisting this mystery woman was important.

Funny that. Donna couldn't remember anything about her altered reality except this woman, that she was blonde.

And she had given Donna a message to warn him about the coming darkness.

 _Bad Wolf._

Rose.

She'd seen Rose.

Oh, gods, Rose was returning.

But if Rose was returning, with the breakdown in the walls between the universes, with the approaching darkness, that could only mean one thing: the end of the universe.


	13. Journey's Beginning

The Doctor sat straight up, newly-formed synapses firing on all cylinders, and his body tingled with regeneration energy.

Donna Noble sat on the grating in front of him. "It's you!"

"Oh, yes!" he said.

She nervously laughed and looked away. "You're naked!"

"Oh, yes!" he said again.

A few of the roundels exploded, and he snapped his head in attention. _TARDIS, burning, gotta save the TARDIS!_ He activated a switch on the console.

They sat in silence for a few seconds. Donna felt horribly awkward and confused.

She turned away from him. "Well, what are you sitting there for? Go put some clothes on. I don't want to see any of your naked alien…ness!"

"Right," he said, and ran off to his room. "Suit, suit, suit, need to find me a suit," he muttered to himself.

Donna covered her eyes when she saw him moving in her peripheral vision. She had no desire to see any of his naked alien-ness as he bounded off like a puppy.

The Doctor walked right up to the wardrobe in his room and flung open the door. He rapidly filed through the hanging garments. "Brown suit, brown suit, brown suit, brown suit, tux—no, that means disaster. Tux, tux, another tux. Blue suit, blue suit. Blue suit. Yes! Blue! I like blue." He was drawn to the blue for some reason that escaped him at the moment. "Shirt. Shirt. Need a shirt." He filed through a few Oxfords and gray and brown henleys. And then at the very end of the line he saw a maroon t-shirt. "That'll do." He slipped on some red trainers and the trousers and shirt and rushed back out to the console room.

"Blue, blue, blue, blue," he muttered as he rushed out of the room.

Fifteen steps into the corridor he halted and his eyes went wide. "Rose." He smiled. "Rose is here." His smile fell just a little. "Two Doctors now. How is that going to work?"

He bounded off again. They would deal with that later. He needed to focus on the matter at hand. "Blue, blue, blue, blue," he muttered with every step. He couldn't piece together his obsession with blue.

He looked around as he entered the console room, pleased to see that the TARDIS was in the process of repairing herself. The spike of regeneration energy had given her a boost. He jumped onto the railing by the door and brushed soot off one of the roundels with his jacket.

"All repaired. Lovely." He hopped off the railing and manically circled the console. "Shush. No one knows we're here. Got to keep quiet. Silent running, like on submarines when you can't even drop a spanner. Don't drop a spanner! I like blue. What do you think?" He looked at Donna for approval.

"You are bonkers!"

"Why? What's wrong with blue?"

"Is that what Time Lords do? Lop a bit off, grow another one? You're like worms."

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm unique. Never been another like me. Because all that regeneration energy went into the hand. Look at my hand." He held it up and wiggled his fingers. "I love that hand. But then you touched it. Wham!" He shouted and shoved his hand towards Donna.

Donna squealed.

"Shush!" He leaned towards her and whispered, "Instantaneous biological metacrisis. I grew out of you." He gave her a look-over. "Still, could be worse."

"Oi, watch it, Spaceman." She weaved her head with classic Donna sassiness.

"Oi, watch it, Earth Girl!" He returned with his own sassiness in kind. _That's different!_ he thought. "Ooo. I sound like you. I sound all, all sort of rough."

"Oi!" she shot back.

"Oi!" he replied, a bit louder.

"Oi!" Donna would have the last word, so help her.

"Spanners! Shush."

Donna pursed her lips.

"I must have picked up a bit of your voice, that's all. Is it? Did I?" He performed a quick scan of his body. His hearts were still racing from regeneration. No. No, not _hearts_. His one— "No. Oh, you are kidding me. No way." His eyes widened in disbelief. "One heart. I've only got one heart." He brought a hand to his chest to check. "This body has got only one heart."

"What, like you're human?" she asked.

His face twisted in offense. New respiratory system. No bypass! How did humans cope? "Oh, that's disgusting."

"Oi!"

"Oi!" he shot back.

"Stop it," she warned.

"No, wait. I'm part Time Lord, part human. Well, isn't that wizard?"

Donna made a connection between the noise she heard earlier and the Doctor's comment about one heart. "I kept hearing that noise, that heartbeat."

"Oh, that was me. My single heart. Because I'm a complicated event in time and space." He waved his hands around and walked towards the console. "Must have rippled back, converging on you."

"But why me?"

"Because you're special," he replied simply.

"Oh, I keep telling you, I'm not," she insisted.

"No, but you are." He realized something about his friend. "Oh. You really don't believe that, do you? I can see, Donna, what you're thinking. All that attitude, all that lip, because all this time you think you're not worth it."

"Stop it." She was hurting. All her life she thought she'd never amount to anything of consequence. Her mother's nagging voice played in her mind.

"Shouting at the world because no one's listening. Well, why should they?"

"Doctor? Stop it."

He smiled. "But look at what you did." Realization hit him again. "No, it's more than that. It's like we were always heading for this." He filed through memories. "You came to the TARDIS. And you found me again. Your granddad. Your car. Donna, your car. You parked your car right where the TARDIS was going to land. That's not coincidence at all! Oh!" He spun around and brought his hands to his head in emphasis. "We've been blind. Something's been drawing us together for such a long time."

"But you're talking like destiny. There's no such thing. Is there?"

He reached for timelines, momentarily grateful that he still had this ability. His own and Donna's were still reaching for one another. Something crucial was still yet to come. "It's still not finished. It's like the pattern's not complete. The strands are still drawing together. But heading for what?"

He circled around the console again. " _Crucible_. We've got to figure out what's going on up there. We have to know what Davros is up to. Why did he steal the planets? What is the engine for? Why does he need the power?"

He fiddled with some settings on the console. "Patching into the video feed. Don't worry. The Daleks won't be able to detect the TARDIS. I'm making sure of that." He worked furiously with his tongue pressed to the back of his teeth. "Aaaand—"

Static was all they could see or hear.

"No! Blocked!" He slammed his fist on the console and then ran his hands through his hair, clenching his jaw. "Think, think, think! Why would he steal all those planets?" He urgently worked at the controls again and pulled up a diagram of their current position, which was somewhere within the mix of the stolen planets. Just as he started examining the screen, the TARDIS shuddered. _It's an energy field!_ "It's the planets. The twenty-seven planets!" A horrible suspicion crossed his mind. He glued his eyes to the screen again, propping his chin in his hand, his mind running a million calculations at once. And his suspicions were confirmed. "Single string Z-neutrinos compressed into…no. No way."

"What was it?" Donna asked.

He couldn't answer.

"Doctor, what did it do?"

Finally, he looked at her solemnly. "A reality bomb. Davros is planning to wipe out everything in existence. This universe. Every universe. All of time. And that jolt we felt? That was just a test."

His jaw clenched again. The Doctor in the _Crucible_ hadn't been able to stop it. Something was holding him up. And what's more, all his friends, including Rose, were up there. He silently pleaded that they had not been the subjects of the test.

He needed a plan. He needed to intervene, just in case any of his companions could not. His mind raced through numerous possibilities and landed on one.

He sprang into action, lifting the grating beneath him and he hopped down beneath the console. He grabbed the spare parts he needed and fit them together. "Donna! Take this."

She reached down for the unfinished device.

He grabbed a few more parts and bounded back up to the upper level.

"So what is this thing?" Donna asked.

"It's our only hope," he said as he fitted the last pieces onto the device. "A Z-neutrino biological inversion catalyzer."

"Yeah. Earth girl, remember?"

"Davros said he built those Daleks out of himself. His genetic code runs through the entire race. If I can use this to lock the Crucible's transmission onto Davros himself—"

"It destroys the Daleks?"

"Biggest backfire in history." He'd had enough of the Daleks ruining the universe. Time to take action, even if it meant breaking a Law of the Time Lords. They needed to be stopped.

He held the catalyzer out to give it the final look-over. "Ready!" he shouted. "Maximum power!" He set the TARDIS in motion.

When the TARDIS materialized in the Vault, he opened the door and cocked the catalyzer. He heroically stormed out the doors and made a run for Davros.

"Don't!" he heard his counterpart yell, as he would have instantly recognized the catalyzer's purpose. But this Doctor wouldn't stop.

Davros stretched out his hand and shot a bolt of energy at him. Luckily, he was within the fifteen hours of his regeneration, or his one heart might not have taken that as well as it did. Davros wasn't aiming to kill anyway. Just to stun, to prove a point.

The Metacrisis fell to the ground, chest heaving and his body wracked with pain.

"Activate holding cell," Davros commanded.

"Doctor!" Donna ran out of the TARDIS. She picked up the catalyzer. "I've got it. But I don't know what to do!"

He was in too much pain, barely able to stand, and everyone else was in too much shock to answer her.

Davros also shot her with a bolt of energy, and she flew across the room, hitting a control panel.

"Donna! Donna! Are you all right, Donna?" the Doctor screamed.

Oh, no. Had the Metacrisis mucked this all up after all?

"Destroy the weapon," Davros commanded, and a Dalek shot the catalyzer. "I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor. They are pathetic," he gloated.

"How comes there are two of you?" Rose Tyler asked.

 _Rose,_ was all the Metacrisis could think. It was the first time he'd seen her with these eyes. "Human biological metacrisis," he panted.

The Doctor cut in. "Never mind that. Now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb."

"Detonation in 20 rels, 19…" a Dalek's voice sounded.

Davros gloated again. "Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, humans. Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and, oh, the end of the universe has come."

The Dalek continued the countdown. He finally made it to one, and all of the companions winced.

An alarm blared.

Nothing happened.

They heard a voice they hadn't expected. "Mmm, closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalized synchronous backfeed reversal loop. That button there."

They all looked in astonishment at Donna.

The Daleks were confounded.

"Donna, you can't even change a plug," the Doctor said.

"Do you want to bet, Time Boy?" Donna smiled.

Davros was infuriated. "You'll suffer for this."

Donna lifted a lever on the control panel and Davros' energy bolt shocked himself.

"Oh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrograde field arc inversion."

"Exterminate her!" Davros cried out in pain.

The Daleks tried, but they could not.

"Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix." She sounded like the Doctor.

"How did you work that out? You're—" The Doctor was at a loss for words.

The Metacrisis finished his statement. "Time Lord. Part Time Lord."

She was more than a bit chuffed with herself. "Part human. Oh, yes. That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor, half Donna."

"The Doctor Donna," the Doctor said. "Just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming. The Doctor Donna."

Donna smiled at him. "Holding cells deactivated. Unseal the Vault. Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits," she chided. "Get to work!"

The two Doctors rushed to her side and began working the controls, shutting down Dalek control over their mobility. Donna spun them around a few times. The Daleks looked a bit silly with their utility arms flailing about.

"What did you do?" the Metacrisis asked.

"Trip switch circuit-breaker in the psychokinetic threshold manipulator," she answered.

He smiled. "But that's brilliant!"

"Why did we never think of that?" the Doctor regarded him.

Donna went off with a smile. "Because you two were just Time Lords, you dumbos, lacking that little bit of human. That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with Planet Earth. I can think of ideas you two couldn't dream of in a million years. Ah, the universe has been waiting for me. Now, let's send that trip switch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you, best temp in Chiswick? Hundred words per minute."

"Ha!" the Metacrisis crowed. He was happy to see his best friend finally believing in herself.

"Come on then, boys. We've got twenty-seven planets to send home. Activate magnetron." Donna began working the controls.

Everyone had a grand time now that they had the upperhand again. The companions did a bit of pushing the Daleks around. The Doctors set to work returning the planets to their home.

"Is anyone going to tell us what's going on?" Rose asked.

"He," Donna motioned to the Doctor, "poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand. I touched the hand, and he grew out of that but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros! Part human, part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind."

"So there's three of you?" Sarah asked.

"Three Doctors?" Rose added. Oh, traveling would be loads more fun now.

"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," Jack interjected. Everyone chuckled a bit at that.

The Doctor turned to Donna as he worked. "You're so unique the timelines were converging on you. Human being with a Time Lord brain."

Davros wheeled around to the mad Dalek. "But you promised me, Dalek Caan. Why did you not foresee this?"

Caan cackled.

The Doctor answered, "Oh, I think he did. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."

"This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor," Caan replied.

Davros was horrified. "You betrayed the Daleks."

"I saw the Daleks," Caan spat. "What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed, no more!"

"Heads up!" Jack shouted as the Supreme Dalek descended into the vault.

"Davros, you have betrayed us!"

"It was Dalek Caan," Davros pleaded.

"The Vault will be purged. You will all be exterminated," the Supreme Dalek ordered.

The Doctor ran to the control panel to accelerate the magnetron, hoping to finish their work on the planets.

The Supreme Dalek fired at the control panel, sending the Doctor flat on his back a few feet away.

Jack pointed the big gun at the Supreme Dalek. "Like I was saying, feel this!"

The Supreme Dalek exploded.

The Doctor inspected the control panel. "Oh, we've lost the magnetron. And there's only one planet left." He chuckled. "Oh, guess which one. But we can use the TARDIS!" He ran to the ship.

The Metacrisis continued working at the control panel. "Holding Earth stability. Maintaining atmospheric shell."

"The prophecy must complete," Dalek Caan said.

"Don't listen to him," Davros pleaded.

Caan continued. "I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and you must make it happen, Doctor."

"He's right," the Metacrisis spoke, "because with or without a Reality bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped."

"Just wait for the Doctor," Donna encouraged.

The Metacrisis looked straight at her. "I am the Doctor," he said with intensity. "Maximizing Dalekanium power feeds." He worked at a few controls. "Blasting them back!"

The Daleks around them screamed in agony and exploded.

The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS. "What have you done?" he shouted at the Metacrisis.

"Fulfilling the prophecy," he said with no hint of apology.

The _Crucible_ shuddered and started crumbling around them.

"Do you know what you've done?" the Doctor screamed. "Now get in the Tardis! Everyone! All of you, inside! Run!"

The Metacrisis obeyed. They would hash it out later. Everyone needed to get to safety.

Once everyone was inside, they crowded around the console.

Rose stood next to the Metacrisis. She offered him a small smile, which he returned. The others exchanged knowing looks over the pair, happy to see Rose and the Doctor together again.

A moment later the Doctor joined them. "And, off we go!" he shouted, flipping the lever to send them in flight.

"But what about the Earth?" Sarah Jane asked. "It's stuck in the wrong part of space."

"I'm on it," the Doctor replied.

The Metacrisis looked on in amusement as his counterpart organized help from Torchwood and Luke, Mr. Smith, and K9. _So this is what it looks like from the outside? I always knew I was brilliant, but now I have proof!_ He mentally patted himself on the back.

The Doctor instructed his crew. "Now then, you lot. Sarah, hold that down. Mickey, you hold that. Because you know why this Tardis always is always rattling about the place? Rose? That, there."

Rose held down her button. She looked up at the Metacrisis. It was the look that said she was more than just happy to see him again.

He knew that look. She'd given him that look so many times, the look she would only give to the Doctor. And she was looking at him that way. Did she truly accept him as the Doctor, then?

He hummed his silly little hum and smiled. He'd missed her so much, and here she was, standing next to him at the TARDIS console. Just like old times.

The Doctor continued to hand out more instructions for his companions. With everyone in place, he grinned. "We're going to fly Planet Earth back home. Right then. Off we go."

The Metacrisis smiled at Rose again, tongue glued to the back of his teeth.

The TARDIS shuddered as it grabbed hold of the Earth and sped it home.

The Metacrisis stood back and watched all his friends, all his shining companions, with a grin.

With the Earth back in its place, everyone clapped and cheered and hugged each other.

Everyone stuck around to chatter for a bit, catching up, telling short stories of their time apart, and in some cases introducing themselves, even though they all felt like they had known each other forever. They supposed that happened when you traveled the Doctor.

The Doctor set them on course for London. His smiled faded. He looked around at all his friends. He wished they could all travel together for one more trip, but that wasn't meant to happen. Some of them had their own lives now. They had moved on from him.

"Sarah Jane? Martha, Jack?" he said once they materialized, and walked towards the doors.

They each said their goodbyes to their friends and the Metacrisis. They warmly called him Doctor.

Sarah Jane followed the Doctor, with Martha and Jack in tow soon after.

Donna phoned her mother.

Mickey kissed Rose on the cheek, saying goodbye once more.

Rose had to wipe a tear from her cheek. She had known for a while, since his Gran passed, that he had wanted to return to the proper universe. They had become best friends all over again in that parallel world. He had been her rock on the days when she felt lost and hopeless. He reminded her time and time again not to give up. "Mickey, you saved me over there. You were more than just the tin dog, you know."

He softly laughed. "You don't need me anymore. Gotta go find my own adventure now. Something new."

"Martha?" She winked.

Even through his dark complexion, Rose could see his cheeks looked a little more pink.

He was startled by a pair of arms wrapping around him from behind lifting him off the grating.

"'Ey! Boss!" He chuckled when he saw the arms were clad in a blue suit. "Put me down!"

"Thank you, Mickey!" The Doctor set him back down.

Mickey turned. "For what?"

"For taking care of Rose." He brushed some invisible dust off Mickey's shoulder.

"Someone had to, all those long days when she forgot to eat or sleep."

Rose coughed in surprise. "Erm," she interrupted.

Both men looked at her, Mickey with an eyebrow raised in confusion, and the Doctor's brows knit with concern. She was trying to hide something from him.

"Like he said." Rose tilted her head in the Doctor's direction. "Thank you." She hugged him again and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, Rose. Guess this is goodbye, then?"

"Nah, not for good. We'll see each other around, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Call me if you all ever need a tin dog."

"Call us if you ever find anything suspicious, maybe another school infested with aliens?"

He chuckled.

They hugged once more, and then Mickey pulled Jackie aside.

Rose turned her attention to the Doctor with a light smile. "Well, we did it. Saved the universe."

His eyes searching hers for a moment. They were different, a little bit harder, a little bit older. Where had the cannon taken her in all those journeys?

Rose broke from his gaze.

He feared losing any more time with her before the other Doctor came back on board, so he grinned. "I know!" he replied. "Those Daleks looked ridiculous, spinning around helplessly like that!" He flapped his arms and spun around, hoping to make her laugh.

"I'm going to miss you more than anyone," Mickey said to Jackie.

Jackie was confused. "What do you mean? The Doctor's going to take us home, isn't he?"

"Well, that's the point," Mickey replied. He pulled Jackie in for a hug.

Jackie understood. He had nothing left in Pete's World. "You take care of yourself, you hear?"

"Give Tony a great big hug for me."

"I will." Jackie let him go. She sat on the jumpseat and watched him walk out the door. She swiped a tear from her cheek. For the second time in her life, she had lost one of her greatest friends.

Rose felt a little relieved, laughing with the Doctor again. When she settled, she leaned on the console.

He turned to lean on the console next to her, crossing his arms and feet. He bumped her with his shoulder. "What's on your mind, Rose Tyler?"

She met his eyes. "So, you're the Doctor?"

"I am the Doctor. Every bit as much as him. I know this might be confusing or awkward for you, but give it some time, Rose."

Rose searched his eyes for a moment.

His one heart pounded out of his chest.

She smiled. "Okay."

"So, I'm still the Doctor, then?"

"No arguments from me." She grinned even wider.

"I missed you, Rose. Like you wouldn't believe."

She lightly wrapped her arms around his waist. "Me, too." She was silent for a moment. "'S'just…a lot to take in. I spent so long traveling through dimensions to find you. And now you're here. Two of you, even. I'm here. I'm back."

"I'd like to hear more about that later, your dimension cannon. If you want to share, that is."

She looked off into the distance, somewhere not in the TARDIS. "In time."

"Oi! You two. Keep it friendly for the children, please." Jackie called from the other side of the console.

Rose blushed and looked up at him.

He grinned. He took her hand and they circled around to where Jackie sat on the jumpseat. "And how've you been, Jacqueline Andrea Suzanne Tyler? And how's good ol' Pete?"

"We're all fine over there in Pete's World. Temperature's back to normal. Vitex is thriving—"

The Doctor bounded in the door.

Rose quickly dropped the Metacrisis's hand and cleared her throat.

He winced. This new dynamic would be awkward for a bit.

"Time for one last trip." He gently touched Jackie's arm as he swiveled the monitor around. "Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as…" The Doctor didn't finish that statement. They all knew where that road lead. He wouldn't even look at Rose. Rather, he looked at the Metacrisis.

With that, the Metacrisis knew what the Doctor was planning.

He knew it was the only viable solution. They shared the same thought processes, after all. The Metacrisis now had a lifespan comparable to a human's, thanks to the one heart. Rose wouldn't live forever, and neither would he. The Doctor and Rose could have their happy ending. Together. Rose wouldn't have to leave her family behind to stay with the Doctor. On the surface, it all made sense.

That was only true if Rose agreed to it. Both the Doctors knew she would not.

The Metacrisis carefully watched Rose. Her expression remained unchanged. She knew where they were going, but she thought they were only going to return Jackie to Pete and Tony. It was clear she was planning to stay with the three Doctors. She didn't suspect a thing.

The Doctor would have to break her heart. It was the only way he'd be able to leave her on the beach.

Even if the Metacrisis knew all the reasons why this was necessary, and the Doctor would have to deal with his own broken hearts, the Metacrisis was the one who would have to deal with the consequences of the Doctor's actions.

How would she take all of this?

Would Rose reject him because of his counterpart's actions? The whole point of the Doctor's decision was so that the Doctor and Rose could live out the rest of their lives together like they'd always wanted. Would it all be thrown away because the Doctor was making yet another decision for Rose, to leave her in the parallel world, without any of her consideration? Would Rose hold it against the Metacrisis because they were essentially the same man?

And if Rose didn't truly accept the Metacrisis as the Doctor, then this would be all for naught. How long would it take to prove himself to her?

The Metacrisis leaned against a coral strut to watch his friends on their final journey together.

Jackie and Rose went to a corner of the console room to talk privately with one another. They had an understanding. The plan had always been for her to find the Doctor, and then she would stay with him. Rose had apparently told Jackie not to follow her because saying a permanent goodbye would not be easy for the two women, but there was no way in hell Jackie would not _not_ going to make sure her daughter had found him and was alright, and she had followed her anyway.

The Doctor listened to Donna's babbling and nodded or added a, "Yep," or a smile to acknowledge that she was speaking. On the outside, everything appeared normal, but the Metacrisis could see the subtle tiredness in his counterpart's eyes. The choice he was making would be rough on him.

Unbeknownst to the Metacrisis or their companions, Donna's babbling didn't sit well with the Doctor the longer she went on. Not only was he about to make an agonizing decision about Rose, but he would have to take care of her after he dropped off the others. And it was killing him.

The TARDIS landed. They all headed for the door.

Donna tugged the Doctor's jacket sleeve as the other three stepped out of the TARDIS.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

He rested his hands in his pockets. His jaw clenched.

"I know this is hard, but you're making the best decision for all of you."

"Rose won't think so. She'll hate me for this."

Donna linked her arm through the Doctor's. "He'll be there for her. He'll help her understand. She'll forgive you."

He pursed his lips, looked at Donna, and nodded.

Donna dropped his arm and walked out. If she hadn't, he never would've moved.

Jackie stepped on the beach first, followed by the Metacrisis and Rose. "Oh, fat lot of good this is. Back of beyond. Bloody Norway? I'm going to have to phone your father. He's on the nursery run." Jackie spoke to the Metacrisis. "I was pregnant, do you remember? Had a baby boy."

He smiled. "Oh, brilliant. What did you call him?"

She smiled at him. "Doctor."

He paused for a moment, smiling with honor. "Really?"

"No, you plum," Jackie giggled. "He's called Tony."

"Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?" Rose interrupted.

"You're back home," the Doctor answered.

Donna continued, because she knew how hard it was for the Doctor to speak in this moment. "And the walls of the world are closing again, now that the Reality Bomb never happened. It's dimensional retroclosure. See, I really get that stuff now."

The Metacrisis smiled at his friend. He never thought he'd hear technobabble from Donna Noble. He wished he could have spent more time with her.

Rose fought to speak through tears, incredulous that the Doctor was making such a crucial decision for her again. "No, but I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now."

He approached Rose. "But you've got to. Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him." He looked at the Metacrisis. "He destroyed the Daleks. He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own."

 _Oh, now that's hardly fair. It's not all my bloody fault,_ the Metacrisis thought. "You made me."

"Exactly," the Doctor answered. "You were born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge." He looked at Rose. "Remind you of someone? That's me, when we first met. And you made me better. Now you can do the same for him."

Rose blinked back tears. "But he's not you."

The Metacrisis would be lying if he said that didn't hurt, but he understood why Rose had said it. She was in love with the Doctor. She was having to say goodbye to him.

"He needs you. That's very me."

All at once he pitied the Time Lord. He was giving up the one adventure he'd wanted more than anything.

And the Metacrisis was gaining the one adventure he'd wanted more than anything, a life with Rose Tyler. One part-Time Lord, part-human life.

Donna stepped in where the Doctor could not again. "But it's better than that, though," she added. "Don't you see what he's trying to give you?" She looked at the Metacrisis. "Tell her. Go on."

Rose turned towards him. She was devastated, even if she was trying to put on a strong face. She'd always been a strong woman, but this was a different strength she was showing. A rehearsed strength. A calculated strength. What had she been through in their time apart?

The Doctor was essentially handing the reigns over to his counterpart in this moment. What happened now was crucial. "I look like him and I think like him. Same memories, same thoughts, same everything. Except I've only got one heart."

"Which means?" she whispered.

"I'm part human. Specifically, the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you, if you want."

"You'll grow old at the same time as me?"

He smiled gently. "Together."

She shook her head in realization. She would be able to spend her forever with him, just like she'd always wanted. And he would be able to spend his one life with her. No more curse of the Time Lords.

He waited with bated breath. What if she rejected him? What if she demanded to travel with the Doctor again? He couldn't ultimately refuse her. What if she left the Metacrisis behind? What would he do then, alone in a new universe?

Rose gingerly placed her hand on his chest.

He gently smiled at her, hoping that she could see his commitment to her, hoping to provide some measure of comfort to her.

She returned his gaze, still unsure, but with an openness towards him.

He felt hope.

"Oh, and don't forget this," the Doctor interjected.

The Metacrisis reluctantly broke his gaze with Rose, slightly irritated. They were sharing a moment of their own. While he didn't want to intrude on the Doctor and Rose's goodbye, must he interrupt at such an important juncture?

Rose wouldn't even turn to look at the Doctor. She felt horribly betrayed.

He supposed that the Doctor needed to cut in because of time constraints, but he also knew that it was difficult for the Doctor to watch such an intimate moment between the love of his lives and the man who was basically him but not him.

"This universe is in need of defending." The Doctor looked around awkwardly. At least he understood what he was doing. "Chunk of TARDIS." He tossed it to the Metacrisis. "Grow your own."

If he was going to interrupt, at least it was with something good. At least it seemed so on the surface. "But that takes thousands of years!" the Metacrisis protested.

"No, because—"

Donna cut in. "If you shatterfry the plasmic shell and modify the dimensional stabiliser to a foldback harmonic of 36.3, you accelerate the growth by the power of 59."

The Doctors said in unison, "We never thought of that!"

"I'm just brilliant!" Donna gloated.

The Metacrisis smiled at his friend again. He was going to miss her.

"The Doctor. In the TARDIS. With Rose Tyler. Just as it should be." The Doctor gave his blessing.

"What about you?" Rose asked.

He nodded towards Donna. "Oh, I've got madame."

"Human with a Time Lord brain, perfect combination! We can travel the universe forever. Best Friends! And equals. Just what old skinny boy needs, an equal!"

The Doctor smiled, but it was bittersweet, a note of sadness lurking beneath it all.

Rose would never know that he was lying to her. He thought about what he would need to do to Donna after they left.

The TARDIS groaned. The Doctor and Donna glanced back at the machine.

"We've got to go," the Doctor said. "This reality is sealing itself off. Forever." That word hurt him so. That word had once held so much promise. He wanted to run. This was so hard for him. He and Donna turned towards the TARDIS.

The Metacrisis couldn't blame the Doctor for feeling like that. He was losing the love of his lives, and this would hurt for quite some time to come. He worried for the Doctor. At least Donna would be there to help him, he supposed.

Rose Tyler wasn't finished. She ran after him. "But, it's still not right, because the Doctor's still you."

The Metacrisis's heart clenched again, aching to prove himself to her.

"And I'm him," the Doctor replied, desperately hoping it was enough for Rose.

She still wasn't finished. "All right. Both of you, answer me this."

Both of the Doctors moved to be near her. The Doctor met eyes with the Metacrisis, silently pleading with him to do what he couldn't.

Rose locked eyes on the Doctor. "When I last stood on this beach—"

The Doctor looked pained. He hadn't wanted it to come to this. He was going to have to break her heart for good, and it was killing him.

Rose continued, "On the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me?"

The Doctor was silent. He knew what he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't and shouldn't.

"Go on, say it," she prompted.

He knew what she wanted and needed and deserved to hear. He swallowed thickly. "I said, 'Rose Tyler.'"

"Yeah, and how was that sentence going to end?"

"Does it need saying?" he asked, fighting tears.

And, truthfully, it didn't. He may have regretted never saying the words aloud, but every moment with her had been a love letter. The way he said her name, the way he held her hand, the way he had opened himself to her—all of that screamed out his love for Rose Tyler. Three words were not enough to contain his love for her. The entire universe wouldn't have been enough to contain it all.

But that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt any less for Rose, the Doctor knew.

She stared for a moment in disbelief, and it killed him.

The Metacrisis knew that if the Doctor had finished that statement, he would've never been able to leave that beach, not without Rose. He hoped he could help Rose understand that in time.

He'd only said the words to her once, and even then, it had been telepathically. He'd longed to finish that sentence for so long. After he and Rose had been separated by dimensions, he'd regretted not saying the words sooner and more often. He resolved that he would not let a day go by where he didn't tell Rose he loved her, if she would give him the chance.

Rose turned her attention to the Metacrisis. "And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"

The Metacrisis leaned forward before she had even finished asking and whispered in her ear.

"I love you."

He pulled back and nervously awaited her response. One second seemed like eternity.

To his surprise, Rose Tyler grasped his lapels and pulled him into a bruising kiss. He was stiff for a moment out of shock. But as he felt her touch after being separated from her for so long, he melted into her and wrapped his arms around her. He clung to her

Rose tried to pull away, but he was so thrilled and overcome with love, so relieved, finally at home again in her arms, that he held her even tighter and chased her lips with his. He felt her smile a little against him.

Rose tore her lips from the Metacrisis when she heard the TARDIS doors close.

He let her go as she ran towards the dematerializing ship. That had been her home for two years of her life. The Doctor had been her home, and she had been his. And he was fading away from her life forever.

The Metacrisis strode forward and gingerly took Rose's hand. He was relieved when she stroked his thumb with hers. He'd half expected her to swat his hand away. And he would have understood, even if it hurt. He feared that kiss may have just been an in-the-moment reaction.

His heart fluttered, though, at the feel of her hand in his again.

They looked at each other.

He hoped she could see love in his eyes.

He could see the weight of the last few years in hers. She was exhausted.

She needed time to heal. She had lost the life she wanted and gained the life she wanted all in one moment. She had been left behind and held tightly both by the same man in two bodies and two men with the same face.

Jackie slowly approached. "I'm calling Pete," she said and pulled out her mobile.

The Doctor and Rose turned, having to drop hands and then quickly joined them again, needing something to anchor themselves.

Jackie continued. "We'll have to stay in the bed and breakfast for the night, but we'll need to start walking before the sun starts to set. It's about two miles away. Close enough to walk. If I called for a cab, we'd be sitting here at nightfall."

She stepped away, holding the phone against her ear.

"Rose," the Doctor started, "I'm—I'm so sorry."

"'S'not your fault," she said. "That's what he does. It's what he's always done. Thinks he knows what's best for everyone." She lightly scoffed.

"We have the same face. I understand if it's hard for you—"

She placed a hand on his chest to silence him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, it hurts. All that work, all that traveling through dimensions," her voice quivered. "Everything I saw, all that for nothing. All that to be left here again on this," she paused, and then spat, "stupid beach."

He wrapped his hand around hers on his chest.

She clasped his fingers in hers after a moment. She finally opened her eyes and met his. "Never thought I'd be staying at that damn inn again. The first time was awful."

"I know," he replied softly.

"Do you?" She didn't drop his hand, but she did loosen her grip. She looked away, searching for some point to stare at, but she hated everything about this beach. She closed her eyes again.

He clutched her hand tighter. "Rose, you're not the only one who lost somebody on this beach." His voice caught.

She looked up at him.

His face had fallen. He looked lost.

She'd seen this look before. Long time ago, but she recognized it. It was the same look she saw when he thought he'd lost her in Rome. It was the same look she saw after the Coronation in London, after the Wire had stolen her face.

He cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb. He hesitantly wrapped his other arm around her.

"I know I'm not _him_ him. I'm sorry I'm not who you expected or wanted. But I am the Doctor. I am the Doctor you loved, and I am the Doctor who loved you and still does. Please, give me time. You'll see."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She'd missed it so much. It felt like…it felt like _home_.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to herself. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

He embraced her and rested his cheek on her hair.

Jackie tentatively walked over. "Pete's got us a few rooms at the inn. He'll be here with Tony tomorrow morning. They'll bring a zeppelin to Bergen and travel by cab the rest of the way here. I know you two are back together, but we've got to get moving. The sun'll be setting soon and it'll be proper cold out here. You think this wind is bad now…" she babbled on as she walked towards the access drive to get off the beach.

"Come on. Best be going," he said softly. He rubbed a gentle circle on her back. He noticed the softness of her blue leather jacket. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. "Blue!" he shouted.

Rose pulled back with eyes equally as wide and wet from tears. "What?"

"Blue! For some reason I couldn't get blue out of my head earlier when I picked this suit." He smiled. "But now I know."

"Why did you pick a blue suit, Doctor?" she asked with amusement and wiped her cheek. He really wasn't all that different, was he?

"You're wearing blue." He smoothed his hands down her arms and took her hands in his. "The last thing I saw before that Dalek shot me was you running towards me on that street. You in this blue leather jacket." He smiled again. "It was the happiest I'd been in such a long time. Felt like I was running home. That was all I could think of when I started regenerating. By the way, I like the leather. And that's a really rather fetching shade of blue."

She smiled. "Took a cue from you." She placed her hand on his chest again, playing with the flap on his breast pocket. "Doctor, could you…"

"Could I what, Rose?"

"You could…stay with me tonight, if you want?"

He gently smiled. "I _do_ want. I would like that very much."

She smiled.

"Oi! You two!" Jackie shouted from a distance. "Shift!" She was nearly off the beach.

"Only one thing to do now, Rose Tyler."

"Yeah? What's that?"

He squeezed her hand and grinned. "Run!"


	14. The Morning After, Part 3

The sun just peaked over the horizon through the windows. His eyes fluttered open and his thoughts wrestled for some coherence through his grogginess.

 _Where am I? Why does my head feel foggy?_

He felt something heavy resting on his chest. He blinked a few times and glanced down and found a mess of blonde hair. Her arm was draped over his torso, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

 _Rose._

She was here. With him.

 _Bad Wolf Bay_.

His hearts sped.

No, his _heart_. His one heart. His one _human_ heart, upon which rested Rose's head.

And she was there. With him. He wasn't an image she couldn't touch. They weren't separated by a universe that was in danger of collapsing if he tried to break through to get to her. No Dalek to shoot him down as he ran towards all he ever wanted in the universe on an abandoned, debris-strewn London street.

He didn't want to wake her, but he stroked her hair.

 _She's here. With me._

She stirred.

She blinked up at him.

"Doctor," her voice cracked, raw from crying the previous night.

 _She called me Doctor_.

Their first night together had been filled with tears of fear and anger and grief. Filled with _I'm so sorry_ and regret. Filled with _I love you_ and _I missed you_ and _I need you_ and reconnecting lips and light touching of skin. They had so much to work through, but it was a start, and at least they could work through it together, rather than shouldering the burden alone.

The corner of his lips turned up in a small smile. "Rose Tyler."

"You're here." She shifted and braced herself up on her elbow.

"I'm here," he said softly.

"Oh, this isn't a dream. You're here." She nuzzled her nose into his neck. She reached out across his chest to run her fingers through the hair behind his ear.

He pulled her closer to his side.

"Oh my god, you're here. Doctor, you're here," she murmured against his neck.

His skin tingled at the feel of her breath and he had to close his eyes at her overwhelming presence. He pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered, "I'm here." He felt his neck wet with her tears. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

She looked up at him and he said, "I'm here, and I'm yours. Forever."

"Now that I'm mortal, please don't turn me into a cicada," he broke the silence after a long while. She was still curled into his side.

She leaned on her elbow and smiled down at him. "What does that mean?" She reached across his chest to run her thumb through his sideburn.

 _Oh_ , that felt _good_. And she was _beautiful,_ the sun coming in through the window behind her, her mussed-up hair forming a golden halo.

Not that he had never noticed any of these things, but his new human body seemed to respond without any prompting. Heart racing, pupils dilating, blood rushing to…oh. _Oh._ _That_ sensation he hadn't felt since he'd last been with Rose, since he'd allowed himself to feel it with her.

He realized he was lost in the way she made him feel and Rose was waiting for him to answer. He shifted his legs and cleared his throat.

This body couldn't control itself. He was in trouble. The good kind of trouble, of course.

Rose smirked.

 _Does she know how this is making me feel?_

She bit her lip and her pupils dilated.

 _Oh, she knows._

He cleared his throat again. "A-Aurora," he managed to choke out as he struggled to regain any sense of composure. "Goddess of the dawn. Roman mythology."

"Yeah?" She played with the hair behind his ear.

 _Blimey, human bodies are touchy,_ he thought as he shuddered.

"She fell in love with a mortal, erm, Tithonus." He struggled to complete a sentence. He wanted to finish his thoughts before he completely lost control, so he laced his fingers through hers and kissed her palm and rested their hands on his chest.

Her eyes fell away from his.

He realized she misunderstood his intentions. _No, we're not starting out this way._ "Rose." He cleared his throat and lifted her chin so she would meet his eyes. "Now that I have a human body, I—erm, I didn't expect it to be this sensitive. I suspect I'm going to need some help with this, and I _want_ you to help me sort this out."

She smiled again. "Oh, I think I could _definitely_ help you sort that out." She smoothed her hand down his chest and stopped just above his trousers. She reached underneath his t-shirt and splayed her fingers on his stomach. She traced his ear with the tip of her nose and she whispered, slowly and emphatically, " _Doctor._ "

"I wanted to," he paused and groaned, "tell you something first—" He could barely speak.

"Doctor, you _are_ sensitive. Way more sensitive than your Time Lord body. Are you sure this isn't too… _domestic_ for you?" She found and ran her nails through the trail of hair just north of his trousers.

"Oh, gods, no." He sucked in a breath. "Sod my disdain for domestics."

She watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly.

"Domesticate me. _Please._ "

"This'll be fun." She grinned with her tongue peeking from behind her teeth.

She stopped for a moment to think, cocking her head, brows knit together.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, panting slightly.

"Doctor, are you still, erm—"

"Telepathic?" he asked.

She nodded.

He grinned and waggled his brows. "I don't know. Want to find out?"

She grinned and nodded.

His eyes went dark. He craned his neck to hungrily meet her lips, and his hands flew under her t-shirt, searching out her breasts.

She fisted her hand in his shirt and gasped at the sensation of his hands groping her so desperately.

Her mobile vibrated on the nightstand. Her screeching ringtone tore Rose's lips away from his.

He cupped her face and pulled her lips back to his, the memory of the day before still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to let her go for anything, even if the TARDIS itself materialized in the room.

"Doctor—wait—" She giggled and chastely kissed him a few times to ease their parting and he whimpered. "Wait—"

She reached over to grab her mobile. "Mum. Let me take this." She shifted off of him to lie on her back.

He groaned. He laid his head on his pillow, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

"Mum?"

" _Pete's arrived. He's got Tony._ "

"Oh, good! Can't wait to see him."

" _He can't wait to see you._ _And he can't wait to meet the Doctor. I can't wait to see him after you've finished hogging him to yourself, but don't tell him I said that._ "

She smiled at the Doctor.

He propped himself up on his elbow, having regained some composure, and smiled down at her.

She searched his eyes. "Right," she said, knowing he could hear Jackie. She bit her lip. "Mmm, well, we're kind of, erm, busy at the moment, so you'll have to wait a bit."

" _Rose! You could've turned your mobile off or on silent! Let it go to voicemail. Why do you think I didn't knock? The way you two got all handsy on the beach. Wouldn't be surprised at all if we had a grandchild in nine months._ "

"Mum!"

Both of their eyes widened.

The Doctor's face went white. He laid back on his pillow again.

Rose looked over at him, trying to read his reaction. She hoped it wouldn't frighten him away.

" _Well, you two get back to being 'busy.' See you in a bit."_

"Yeah, see you. Love you." She ended the call abruptly. "Doctor." She leaned on her elbow again and looked down at him.

He blinked a few times. "Shut that thing off, please."

She did and reached across him to set it back on the nightstand. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. It's way too soon to be thinking about all of that, I know. I'm so sorry."

"No, Rose, I hadn't thought about any of that in the last 24 hours. Rose, I have a human life now. Where are we going to live? Certainly not anywhere near your mother, that's for sure, because she has a knack for interrupting at the most inopportune times. I'm going to have to get a job. A real, proper job." He ran a hand through his hair. "And there's all of," he paused, meeting her eyes, and he waved his hand in the air to indicate the matter at hand, "… _that_ …to think about down the road. If you want any of _that_ , that is."

"If it's too soon, Doctor, we don't have to think about any of that right now. I know it is for me. We've not even been together for twenty-four hours yet."

"Rose, I told you I was a dad once. I'll have to tell you about my…my daughter that I progenated when I traveled with Donna. Well, I didn't create her _with_ Donna," he corrected immediately, gingerly touching her arm, not wanted to cause Rose any concern. "Machine took a sample of my skin, created her from my DNA. Her name was Jenny."

"Was?" Her face softened. Had he left her behind? How old was she?

"She was shot. Trying to save me. She had two hearts, just like me, but she didn't regenerate." He swallowed thickly.

She brushed his cheek with her thumb.

"Rose, she helped me think about being a father. She opened that part of me that I swore I'd never consider again. I loved her, even if I only knew her for a short time. She was—" he paused and searched her face and brushed her hair behind her ear, "she was blond. And she was brave, just like..."

At this, Rose was the one crying.

"Rose," he said tenderly, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand, "I want nothing more than to build a life with you. And that includes children, when the time comes for it, if that's alright with you, but I know all of this is going to take time. And we have all the time in the world now. No more running. No more fighting against the universe. No more curse of the Time Lords. I told you a long time ago, stuck with you is _exactly_ where I want to be."

She lowered her face to his. "I love you," she whispered, her breath ghosting on his lips.

He whispered, "I love you," and closed the distance.

They made love with tears to a symphony of _I love you_ and _Forever_ and _Rose_ and _Doctor_ , much slower and sweeter than their first desperate, hungry attempt.

And they did find that he was, in fact, still telepathic.

Rose awoke later with a gentle knock on the door of their room. She raised her head from the Doctor's chest and saw a piece of paper slid under the door.

The Doctor stirred at her movement. He mumbled and pulled Rose back to his side as she tried to get up from the bed.

She kissed his shoulder. "Someone's left a note for us," she murmured against his skin.

"Mmm," he acknowledged and let her go.

 _Innkeeper said you didn't come down for breakfast, so here's plates when you're ready. Tony can't wait to see you. Tell himself to finish up so we can see the three of you (you, him, and the grandchild). So happy for you. Love you, sweetheart. –Mum_

Rose rolled her eyes and laughed.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked from the bed.

Rose looked up at him from where she sat on the floor.

He sat up and she took in the sight of him. He was skinny, but _blimey_ was he gorgeous, with his chest hair and pecs and his lightly toned arms. With that gorgeously tousled hair and his sleepy face, she was almost ready for a second round.

"Rose?" He smirked.

She blinked and realized her mouth was slightly agape. "Sorry. It's just…you're something to look at. Even better than I remembered."

"Quite the specimen, am I not?" He waggled his brows and ran a hand through his hair.

She giggled. "Mum wrote a note. She brought us breakfast."

He knit his brows in thought. "Come to think of it, I'm starving. I knew you humans need to eat all the time, but I'm going to have to adjust to this new metabolism."

She stood and found a robe hanging in the small closet, and then opened the door to bring in the tray. After she shut the door, she found him staring at her.

"What?"

"Can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Sure."

"Could you take your robe off before you bring that over?"

She blinked and blushed. Then she smiled. "Like what you see?"

His eyes roved her robed form. "Yeah, I do actually."

She set the tray on the nearby chest of drawers and turned to face the closet away from him. She slowly untied her robe and let it slip down over her shoulders, revealing her arms and back, then her waist, her bum, and then her legs, all the way to the floor. She looked over her shoulder at him and found him absentmindedly wetting his lips. She slowly turned and walked back to the tray, picked it up, and approached the bed.

"You're beautiful."

She smiled softly. "Breakfast then, yeah?"

His stomach growled on cue, reminding him of his hunger. "If I must."

She crossed to her side of the bed and sat down, placing the tray between them.

They uncovered the plates and found two full breakfasts. The tray was garnished with two fruit cups. One was a sliced banana, obviously for him, and the other was a sliced pear.

The Doctor's face immediately twisted in disgust.

Rose's eyes went wide. "What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Pears! I _hate_ pears!"

"I didn't know that about you. Since when did you hate pears?"

"Since…always! How did we travel together for that long, and you didn't know that about me? And since when did you like them?"

"Since always." She laughed.

"What'd you do that for?"

"I just like them, Doctor."

"Well, I won't begrudge you of them, if that's what you like. But tell you what, if you must eat them, eat them first and then eat the rest of your breakfast."

"Why?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"So I don't have to taste them when I kiss you later." He kissed her cheek.

"Oh, well then," she said, nudging his arm with her elbow. " _Mmmm_ ," she moaned as she dipped a slice in the accompanying caramel sauce.

"That's it. I'm cracking the universe back open and going to the other side."

"Suit yourself, Doctor. You'll miss out on this caramel sauce. Shame." She smeared some on her forearm and licked it off.

His mouth was agape again.

"Staring's rude, you know," she said through bites of pear slices. "I see you haven't lost that quality in our time apart."

He cleared his throat. "I've got rudeness in spades. Can't take my eyes off of you."

He looked down at his plate. "I, erm, was ruder without you. Didn't seem to care when you weren't around." He thought of his time with Martha, a small amount of regret peeking through his otherwise dapper mood. "Which reminds me, Rose. I need to tell you something."

She set down her fruit bowl. "What is it?"

He took a deep breath. "Once with Martha, I had to hide myself for a while. The TARDIS has this device on it, the Chameleon Arch. It's capable of rewriting one's DNA so that one could become something completely different while storing the original person's essence in a small receptacle. In this case, a fob watch.

"This family of hunters was chasing us, Martha and I. The Family of Blood. They have short life spans. Vapor form, so they need to inhabit bodies to keep living. They wanted mine because of the longevity and regenerative capabilities of a Time Lord, and they wanted the TARDIS for her traveling capabilities. I was forced to use the Chameleon Arch to protect Martha and myself. I, me, the Doctor, was locked away in the fob watch, and I became a human. I was actually John Smith. Can you believe that?" He smiled.

"All those times you took his name." She smiled.

"The TARDIS wrote a life story for me and gave me a job as a history professor at the Farringham School for Boys in 1913. Martha came along as my maid, and she was charged with looking after me and keeping the watch safe. And she was…she was a star. I was so difficult with her.

"But enough about all that. Rose." He took a deep breath and looked at the tray. "John Smith fell in love. John Smith was a lover. He was a lover because I loved you." He looked at her again. "The part of me that loved you was the most human thing about me, and the TARDIS found that would be the easiest characteristic for John Smith to live in. She was a nurse, Joan. She was kind and brave, wouldn't you know, blonde.

"In my video of instructions to Martha, I never warned her about John Smith falling in love. It was inconceivable to me as the Doctor that I would fall in love with someone else as a human because I was still in love with you. Never even crossed my mind."

Rose's eyes fell to the tray. She understood that the Doctor wasn't John Smith, but John Smith was a part of the Doctor. She would have been lying, though, if she said she wasn't a little hurt that he'd had feelings for someone else, even if it wasn't truly him. She was happy he had moved on and traveled with other people, like she'd hoped he would, and she supposed that was bound to have happened.

"Please listen to me." He turned towards her and lifted her chin. "I want you to know something about John Smith. He dreamed about you. My memories leaked through to him in dreams, and he saw your face." He gently caressed her cheek. "He drew portraits of you in his journal. Your face haunted him. And at some point, you disappeared from his dreams. I want you to know that he loved you, even though you were only a dream to him. He kept wanting to draw the perfect rose. He couldn't find one, so he kept asking a girl where to find one, and she wouldn't answer him. She kept walking away from him. He wrote over and over that she was dressed in the most immodest and extraordinary way." His eyes darted over Rose's form, still naked beside him. "He also remembered that you were more properly dressed when we visited Cardiff in 1890. He wrote about the woman who had a universe poured into her. She wrote letters on rose petals and scattered them through time and they became letters to her about her future. He dreamed about your face being stolen by the Wire." He rested his forehead on hers. "He wanted to love somebody in his world because he loved you in his dream. Do you understand?"

She gently nodded.

He pulled back to meet her eyes. "I could sense what was going on with John Smith when I was in the fob watch. I needed to be able to guide the watch to safe hands when Martha needed protection from the Family. I watched him fall in love. And it made me realize that when I lost you, I lost the part of myself that made me feel human. I missed how loving you made me feel so alive. Rose, when I lost you, when we were on that beach for the first time, I told you that you living your life day to day was the one adventure I could never have. In that moment it was the only adventure I wanted more than anything. When the fob watch was opened and John Smith became me again, I showed him his life, what would have been if he had remained John Smith. And I saw that he was giving up a life full of love and children. I was grieved because I never had that life with you.

"I invited Joan to travel with me. I missed you. I hurt every time I thought of you. I wanted relief. It ultimately wouldn't have worked out with her. She said I looked too much like John Smith, and she also called me a coward. She was right. Nobody would have died if I hadn't chosen to hide. And Rose, she wasn't you. John Smith was acting on his own feelings, but he was attracted to her because she reminded him of you, the girl just out of reach in his dreams.

He took another deep breath. "I am so sorry. But it would have been dishonest of me not to tell you."

She studied his eyes for a moment. "You're still you," she said tentatively, "but you're different somehow."

"How so?"

"A long time ago, you would have hidden that from me, avoided telling me out of guilt or something, and I'd've had to drag it out of you. And here you are, being open with me. And you never mentioned your former companions before Sarah Jane showed up, and now you're being open about Martha and Donna. Martha and Donna knew who I was."

"New new new Doctor." He smiled.

"Well, give me a few moments to process all that. I understand why you did what you did, I think, and I hear what you're trying to tell me. I just…need a moment."

"Sure," he replied. He finally took a few bites of his breakfast, but his eyes were glued to Rose. Of course he had been nervous about telling her. He didn't want to hurt her, but she deserved to know.

After a moment, she reached for his hand.

The tension in his body melted.

"Doctor, what were you trying to tell me earlier, about Aurora?" She moved the tray to the nightstand next to her.

"Hm?" He blinked and shook his head, not expecting the change in topic.

"About Aurora and, what was his name? Thit—Thitonius?"

He turned towards her. "Ah, Tithonus. Yes, the Roman goddess Aurora. She was the goddess of the dawn, bathed in the golden light of the morning sun. She fell in love with a mortal, Tithonus. To keep him for all eternity, she asked Jupiter to make him immortal. He granted her wish, but she forgot to ask for eternal youth, so he grew forever old and grey. She grew bored with him and turned him into a cicada."

"Fine, I'll not turn you into a cicada when you grow old and grey." She brushed at a few strands of his fringe.

"Thanks, Rose."

She smiled. She shifted and straddled his lap. She rested a hand on his chest and her other hand on the nape of his neck, pulling him close.

He eyed her lips, resting his hands firmly on her hips.

"I am, however, considering a pear. A bunch of pears in a," she imitated him, "'not blue' bucket."

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, but Rose Tyler shushed him with her lips.

In gratitude, he reached down to cup her bum.

And there they were, slipping back into their old habits, as if nothing had changed and everything had changed. They would be okay.


End file.
